Jayne's Jotter

"A mile in His Shoes" DVD winner

2012-01-23T08:28:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Dave & Kristina you are the winner of " A mile in His Shoes" DVD :)
The winner has been notifiied, and has 48 hours ( Wed. Jan. 25th 8am PST) to get back to me with their mailing address. If they don't respond then I will pick another winner using www.random.org.

I used www.random.org to choose a winner, and the winning number was # 2

I received one copy of this DVD in exchange for my honest review, and no other compensation was provided. Thank you to all of you who entered my first giveaway :)

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

"A Mile in His Shoes" DVD review and giveaway- Closed now

2012-01-18T21:43:00.000-08:00

This is the first DVD that I have ever got to review on my blog. I was excited and really interested to review this particular one as the main character of the movie is a young man with Asperger's Syndrome, which is a form of Autism. This is something near and dear to my heart as our oldest boy was diagnosed with Autism 4 years ago.

The story is set around an 18 yr old, young man called Mickey who has an amazing talent to throw a baseball. His talent was discovered by a chance meeting with baseball coach Arthur "Murph" Murphy. Mickey's parents are reluctant to let their son leave their farm because he has Asperger's. Murph convinces Mickey's parents that life in the minor league will benefit their unique son.

As I watched this movie I was able to relate to the Parents fears and challenges of raising a child with Autism. I appreciated how they touched on some of the challenges that individuals with Autism have to deal with daily. This story reminded me there is hope midst the challenges and struggles of Autism and many blessings too.

I enjoyed watching this movie of hope and faith. If you would like to watch it for yourself you have an opportunity to win a copy for yourself!

There are 2 ways you can enter this giveaway:
1.Leave a comment on my blog, telling me why you would like to win this movie
2. Sign up for my email subscriptions to my blog ( leave a comment to say you signed up)

You can have 2 entries just make sure you leave a comment both times. The giveaway will close Sun. 21st January at 8pm PST. The winner will be chosen by random.org

Gautreau Christmas Greetings

2011-12-18T12:46:00.000-08:00

Create a newsletter

A meaningful Tradition

2011-12-14T09:09:00.000-08:00

"But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.”
Luke 1: 30-31

Over the last few years we have taken our boys to A Journey Through Christmas. It is a 15-minute drive through of the Christmas story with live actors and animals. The first stop you come to is the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary. Every year as I watch and listen to the scripture I mentioned above being read, it brings tears to my eyes.
As a mom, I can’t imagine how overwhelmed Mary must have felt about the news the angel shared with her. God chose Mary for a very special purpose. I believe God chooses us specifically for the children he gives us.
There are days where I feel overwhelmed and extremely inadequate for the task at hand, but like Mary, God tells us, “Do not be afraid.”
Mary is a beautiful example of a woman who trusted God with her son. I think the reason I get emotional as I listen is because I know the rest of the story. It just doesn’t end with the joyous and happy celebration of a new-born baby.
Mary as a mother experiences what it is like to have her son face a very cruel death. I also get overwhelmed with the fact that He died for you and me so we could have a personal relationship with him.
At Christmas we think a lot about giving and receiving gifts, so maybe this would be a good time for you to think about receiving a gift of eternal life and forgiveness, if you have not already received that gift.

I wrote this article for our mops newsletter to correspond with our theme for our December meeting which was "Holiday Traditions.”What do you want your family traditions to reflect?

The drive through the Christmas story has become a tradition for our family as we want our boys to be able to reflect on what Christmas is really about amidst all of the other business of the season.
We actually took our boys this past weekend to this event, as we watched and listened to the scene of Mary and Joseph in the manger with the baby, our youngest M was sitting on his dad's lap and he made the comment, "that makes me want to cry" and his dad asked him "why"and he said "because a baby was born". It is interesting as mom was getting a little teary eyed too :)

Comparisons

2011-12-05T15:25:00.001-08:00

Recently I overheard someone describe me as being a creative person! I remember being surprised, as I really don't consider myself to be particularly creative, at least compared to other people.

Exactly, that's it, we spend so much time comparing ourselves to other people that we can't see who we are? We can't see the unique person that Christ has made us to be.
It seems it is much easier for us to see ourselves as other things which aren't always positive.
Inadequate, unlovable, worthless, failure, weak, small, boring, unattractive, stupid and the list could go on! When we think on these things and let them take root in our lives, we start to believe them! As we continue to compare ourselves to other people around us, we become disillusioned with ourselves and other people.
And when we believe these lies we feed ourselves, it affects our relationship with others and more importantly with God.

Thankfully God reminds us in His word :

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. " Psalm 139:14

Therefore if He has made us then we can't be all these things, because we are made in His image. It is so easy for each of us to fall into a negative pattern of thinking that does nothing for ourselves but drag us down and takes our focus of who God is and the purposes He has for each one of us.
One of my favorite verses is

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Philipians 4 :8

I write out of personal experience, but I am thankful that God uses His word to speak truth into my life and to know that none of that stuff is true about any of us!

A picture of me helping my son be creative decorating his gingerbread house at school

My mum came to visit

2011-11-11T17:10:00.000-08:00

Last week I was truly blessed to have my mum come to visit for a week. Time with my mum is always treasured since we live ocean's apart :) Mummy visits always consist of a suitcase filled with goodies for our family, lots of extra cups of tea and a shopping partner for me. Yes my mum loves to shop as much as I do, although she tells me she hardly ever does it at home! Not sure I believe that? :)

I am always thankful for the time to talk with my mum, to laugh, hash out different topics, figure out life and do the things that I can't do on a regular basis. The boys were in school while she was here, so we had extra time to chat and catch up.
I love that when she is here I can be real and open, yes we sometimes get irritated with each other, but one of the things I appreciate about my mum is how she is honest with me. She tells me the things I need to hear even if it is hard for me to hear them. She is usually right and you know what mum's do know what is best and my mum knows me well :) She is kind, loving, fun and thoughtful. My mum is a busy lady always putting other people first, especailly her family, when she came here we really wanted to make sure that she would relax and enjoy her time here and I think she left feeling that way! The week went in too fast, but again I am thankful for the time with her and look forward to when we can do it again, either here or over in Northern Ireland.

I hope and pray I can be the kind of mother to my boys that she has been me :)

Thank you God for mothers :)

Pumpkin Patch kindergarten fun

2011-10-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

M started kindergarten at the end of August, this past Monday I got to go with him on his first field trip. We went to a pumpkin patch at a local farm :) Our bus was full of very excited little people :) When we got to the farm it was raining but the kids didn't seem to mind at all. One of the first things they got to do was run around the corn maze.

After a yummy snack it was time to head out to the much anticipated pumpkin patch, we all piled onto the tractor, it was pretty crowded and we all ended up with soggy bottoms from sitting on the wet hay but again no one seemed to mind :) Once we got to the patch, M set off on his mission to find his perfect pumpkin!

Is it this one? No, I think I will need something a little bigger if I am going to decorate it :)
So as the rain started to pour down M set off and finally he found the one

Once we got home M was very anxious to carve his pumpkin so we started the fun task of taking the seeds out so we could bake them in the oven :)

M seemed to have in mind exactly what he wanted to do with his pumpkin, it wasn't mom's idea but we had fun doing it!

He is very proud of his creation and was sure to show it to his friends and anyone who came to our door, including the Edward Jones lady who came to our door to tell us about her new business in town!

Ask God!

2011-10-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

This morning I went for a walk, I often call it my think and prayer time. I had spent most of my walk listening to a preacher on the Christian radio, but as I was getting closer to home, I turned it off and started to pray.
I was praying for my children when God brought to mind something that had happened yesterday with E.
I had picked up my boys & our neighbor kids from school, E had been playing with his Nintendo DS but when we got back home it came to my attention that the little pen that goes along with it that you use to touch things on the screen had gone missing. M had been using it and in his excitement to go show his little friends his pumpkin he had got the day before, he lost the pen as he was leaving the van. E and I started to look for the pen, trying to get M to help. It wasn't very successful and I found myself getting more and more irritated and very frustrated. In the midst of my ranting and raving, I heard E say "ask God", ask God", but I was frustrated and wasn't paying very much attention and instead I chose to rant more. The more I ranted the "ask God" got louder, then he said loudly "Ask God, He will help you, remember at Sunday school they tell us to ask God he will help you". As I write I have tears in my eyes for many reasons. We have often told E when he is in a situation where he needs help, that he can stop and ask God to help him. One of the times was when he couldn't find his shoes, so we often hear him say when we ask him "Where are your shoes, he replies, " ask God". But he also obviously has heard this at Church too :)

This morning as I was praying and God brought to mind this incident yesterday. I am humbled, but thankful to God for reminding me through my own child that we should "Ask Him". I was also just really in awe of how God is working in my little boys heart. Very often he seems so distracted, focused on his own little world that we never are really sure of what he hears or comprehends, but Praise God this little boy is hearing and comprehending and God is using Him to speak to my life. I am also reminded this morning though of how often we get angry, loud, we rant and we rave when things are difficult, things aren't going our way, we go to others first to ask for help! Wouldn't life be so much more simpler, if we just "Ask God"!!

Friends

2011-09-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

I am linking up again today with The Gypsy Mama and five minute Friday

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Go a little overboard encouraging the writer who linked up before you.
OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes:

GO!
On Friends.........................

A friend is someone you can
play with
cry with
laugh with
share with
pray with
love with
forgive with
trust with
respect with
talk with
hug with
pour out with
check in with
dream with
honor with
admire with
hope with
blessed with
be thankful with
be funny with
praise with
rejoice with
mourn with
heal with

I am blessed that God has given me friends to experience all of life's "with's"

STOP!

I love that my boys are friends and can experience lots of "with's" together

A trip home

2011-09-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

This Summer we were blessed to be able to go back to Northern Ireland to visit my family. I was pretty anxious about the long trek back there, as I was going to be traveling with the boys on my own without daddy there to help and support!

After a delayed and missed flight we finally made it there! As our plane was making it's descent into Belfast International Airport, I took this picture :) I was home, it had been over 4 years and I had a feeling of excitement and anticipation, looking forward to seeing my parents smiling faces, hearing familiar accents, smells and sounds. It was all very exciting, we were tired and worn out from travelling for 2 days, it was raining but I didn't really care, I was "home"!

I was really struck again by the beauty of the Emerald Isle, one you don't always think about when you grow up there. I found it very refreshing and enjoyed the spectacular sights. I had a hard time not taking scenery pictures as I wanted to have lots of picture memories when I got back to the US, my other home!

Our days were fun filled times with family, lots of cousin time for the boys, catching up with friends and just really enjoying the Northern Irish way of life again :)

We were there for 3 weeks, on our last week Sabin was able to join us

I always enjoy seeing Sabin take in and enjoy my home country's culture and history. One of our favorite days was spent on Rathlin Island, a small working island.

We enjoyed hiking, geocaching and just taking in the peace and rustic nature of the island. It was just a really beautiful and great day!

Sadly it was time to head back to Oregon. But we returned with suitcases full of goodies and a heart full of precious fun memories. We look forward to when we can return again, hopefully sooner than 4 years time.

My heart!

2011-08-12T14:40:00.000-07:00

This is probably one of the most difficult blog posts I am about to write. I have written this post in my head many times, but this is the first time I have sat down and decided to type, to try and put those thoughts that have been in my head for a while now, on paper so to speak!
I just want you to know I am going to be sharing something very near and dear to my heart and so I want you to be prepared for what your about to read! I want to share this with you, because I know many of you have been through this similar journey or know someone who has been through it.

Back in December of 2010 I learned I was pregnant with our 3rd child, yes what great news! I remember being a little surprised but also excited. A few days later those feelings of Joy and excitement turned to fear and sadness as I started to miscarry our precious baby.

Yes I was pregnant for a very short time, but I had no idea how that short time was going to affect me or impact my life for months to come! I grieved terribly for my baby, I longed to be morning sick and have all those early feelings of pregnancy that we do not like or enjoy, because in my mind if I felt that way then I was still pregnant. I hoped that it might be a bad dream and I would wake up from it and everything would be ok or maybe the dr. was wrong? But however that was not going to happen. In the past months since our miscarriage God has taught me so much about Himself, about myself and also how much He loves me. I went through a wide range of emotions over the last few months and at times I was very angry with God and bitter, but I also realized that for me to stay that way was of no benefit to me or anyone around me! It was not helping me heal and was not honoring God or my little one either!

The reason I write this now is because my little one was due around this time, mid August :) I have found myself this past week thinking about our little one a lot, what they would have looked like, thinking about how their tiny body would have felt in my arms, how my husband and I would have greeted them into the world and what the boys would have thought of him/her. Experiencing a miscarriage has been one of the saddest times of my life, but through it all I still have hope. I know that although I won't get to hold our baby here on earth, they are in Jesus arms and one day we will most definitely be reunited and what a glorious day that will be :)

Since my miscarriage I have talked with many women, many of them whom I did not know had gone through the same thing. Everyone's story is a little different and yet the same in regards to how they felt and dealt with the loss. I feel that in writing this maybe I can bring some hope, but also help other families. I heard 1 in 3 women miscarry, something I was not aware of until this happened to me. Most people don't talk about it or share their story, miscarriage and infant loss is a taboo subject it seems. I think partly because none of us really know how to respond and sometimes when the news is shared the response from others is not always helpful in our grief. I have been cautious in how I have shared it, but I feel it has been important for me to write this down. Our baby was not with us for very long but, he/she has left a lasting imprint on our hearts and we will carry that with us forever! One of the verses that gave me comfort during the early days was:

Isaiah 55:8-9

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

I may not understand why this happened, but yet I know I have to continue to trust and lean on Jesus.
For those of you have walked with me through my time of grief and have been there for me when I needed to talk, needed someone to pray, a hug or just let me cry, I want to say a huge thank you!

Why my husband Rocks!

2011-06-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

It isn't hard for me to say why my husband rocks! He is the love of my life, my best friend! When we met I had never dated anyone else. I was 23 years old and wasn't sure if a husband was in God's plans for me? My husband and I met when I came to the US in 1998 as an exchange student to Moody Bible institute. For me I wanted to marry someone who loved God, was a man of integrity and served God will all His heart, I definitely found all those qualities in my husband.

We have been married for 10 years, the last 4- 5 years have probably been the hardest 5 years for us as a couple and family. After 6 years in youth ministry my husband felt God was leading him out of that for a while. One of the main reasons being our oldest son was having some major developmental issues, which we later found out was Autism. Since an Autism diagnosis, my husband has been a rock. I heard divorce within the Autism community is extremely high. Although it has been tough at times, I can't imagine raising our son with Autism or our other son apart from each other!

He is always there willing to listen, helping calm my fears and anxieties but in all of that pointing me towards Christ, encouraging me to look to Christ for my strength, wisdom and guidance. He brings a calm and stability into my life, he also makes me laugh which is another quality I appreciate since I can be very serious at times!

In April of 2009 my husband and I started to build our own home through a self help sweat equity program. One of the reasons we did it was so we could have a home of our own, one that was safe for our boys and a place of rest and tranquility for when our days were crazy! My husband put in 40 hours a week of work on his regular job and then on the weekend he would put in 20 hours on our house :)

He loves our boys, you can often find him riding bikes, doing yard work, wrestling, making up stories at bed time, playing and just being silly with them and they too love their daddy :)

So as you can see, that is why my husband rocks, and I only feel like I have scratched the surface, but I am thankful I can honor him in this way. Happy Father's day to my love!

Five minute Friday- "On Distance"

2011-04-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

It's that time again :) I am really enjoying doing these!

1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in {you can grab the button in my right side bar}
3. Go leave some comment props for the five minute artist who linked up before you {and if you love us, consider turning off word verification for the day to make it easier for folks to say howdy}

Today's topic "ON DISTANCE"

GO!
You were my firstborn and I was so delighted to have you in my life, yet for some reason something didn't seem right? I watched you as you lined up your cars, you tried to communicate but you couldn't, you would wake up from a nap and cry and cry, I would hold you and pray and seek God for wisdom as something with my sweet baby boy wasn't how I thought it should be? There was a distance, you were locked in a world I didn't understand, I couldn't reach.

I was determined not to let you stay there, determined to bring you closer. I did everything I could to reach in, help you! Thankfully after lots of appointments, questioning, testing, therapy, researching, we found out. Autism created a distance between you and me, but I was so determined to not let it, I knew God had blessed us with a very special little guy who would change us in a way we would never understand.

The day you were diagnosed, I felt a burden lift, I felt I could finally reach you, finally help you. The last few years have been very hard work, but finally I feel like the distance between me and you has been lifted. To see you laugh, smile, giggle, talk and enjoy life has brought so much joy.

April is Autism Awareness Month, this is a great time for all of us to understand Autism, to not let the distance come between us and to enjoy the special blessing of a child with Autism.

STOP!

Five Minute Friday- If you met me...............

2011-04-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

Today I’m linking up with the http://thegypsymama.com/2011/04/five-minute-friday-if-you-met-me/who challenges us to write for 5 minutes without stopping, without editing – about a particular subject. Here is this Friday’s topic

If you met me...............

Go
You would probably notice that I have an accent and no I am not Canadian, I grew up in Northern Ireland, which I am very proud to tell everyone :)
I would probably share with you the story of how I came to America to attend Bible school, but also found my sweetheart that year!
If you met me, I would love to share my story with you, I love to share it with anyone who will listen. I love to share how good and gracious God has been in my life in the last few years. If you met me I would probably share with you how God blessed us with 2 precious boys and that one of our boys was diagnosed with Autism. You will probably notice how passionate I am about Autism and also so thankful for how God used something painful and difficult in our family to show us His love and provision in our lives.
I may also share with you some of the other things God has been doing recently in my life, how he is healing my heart.
If you met me I hope you would also laugh with me, I have 2 very crazy boys and I love to share their funny stories and silly things they do. If you met me I hope you would also meet my wonderful husband who I can't imagine doing this journey without. If you met me, I hope you would leave knowing most importantly I love Jesus and He is everything to me.

Stop!

Adversary or Advocate? Reaching the heart of your child and a giveaway!

2011-03-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

Adversary or Advocate? Reaching the heart of your child and a giveaway!

A few weeks ago I discovered this author, her name is Sally Clarkson ( if you click on the title above you can link to her website) . Recently the Lord has been really working on my heart about how I view myself. This has been through a bible study I have been doing with a group of friends, but also it has been reinforced to me through the things I have read on this blog and in another book I am reading currently! I realized that my view is often shaped by lies I believe about myself. Those lies have come from things that may have happened in the past or things that others have said to me or have been done to me!

As I read through Sally's blogs I am just overwhelmed by her wisdom as a mother. I have also been made aware that those lies we believe can also carry over into our parenting. Those lies leave us feeling exhausted, disappointed and frustrated with ourselves.
Her blog is so encouraging and I think any woman would be blessed by it. I appreciate her no guilt approach and the understanding of we are all in this together and lets encourage each other!

She is doing a give away right now for one of her books, so if your interested hop on over to her blog and leave a comment :) The link above should take you to it!

Blessings

2011-03-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

The song I have posted below on this Blog post is one of my new favorite songs! A few weeks ago I was folding laundry in my living room and I heard this song playing on the radio, it really caught my attention! As I listened I was aware I had wet cheeks, this song spoke right to my heart! It talks about how the difficult times in our lives can also yield many blessings. Our blessings don't just come from the good things that happen in our lives. I had never really thought and processed that concept before and yet as I thought more about it, I could see different situations in my own life where that was very true!

There are some things that happen in our lives that are often very hard for us to understand why they would happen? Or even why God would allow them to happen? As I listened to this song it made me realize that even in our very difficult times, that God is working out His purposes in our lives & hardships can also have blessings.

When E was diagnosed with Autism, I most definitely would not have said "oh my isn't that a wonderful blessing my son has Autism"! Yet 4 years in advance I can look back over the last few years and see now the blessings that have come from having a child diagnosed with Autism. I have met some beautiful families and made wonderful friends. I have also been able to understand and learn about something I otherwise would never have maybe thought about! Also when we built our house I remember feeling a little resentful in some ways that we had to work so much and sacrifice a lot during that time to get a house for our family, but now I can truly see the blessing in why God had us do the project. We are blessed with great friends in our neighborhood ! I pray that as you watch and listen to this song you will be able to see the blessings in your life that have come from the good and the bad situations.
My favorite line is " what if the trials of this life are your mercies in disguise" .

Friendship

2011-03-02T08:36:00.000-08:00

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.
C. S. Lewis

The blessing of freindship is something that has been on my mind for quite a while now!
A few weeks ago I got to spend a Sat. morning at Starbucks, visiting with a dear friend . It was a great morning, we talked about our joys and struggles as a mom, wife, woman and just life in general. Before we knew it, we had been there for about 3 hours? Really, we could talk that long? I left that morning feeling encouraged, it is a blessing to have a friendship where we can open up, be honest and even vulnerable about ourselves.
The last five years of my life have probably been the most challenging for various reasons. I think of the dear friends that I have called at my times of despair! They have prayed , encouraged, helped and imparted their wisdom. All of the above I am forever grateful~

There are a group of ladies that I meet to do Bible study with once a week. I have really come to love these ladies like sisters, we laugh & cry and share in each others joys and struggles. Several months ago I went through something personal that was very difficult, it left me feeling very heart broken and sad. I have to say that without these ladies in my life at this present time I am not sure how I would have got through that time. When your going through difficult times, it can often be lonely and isolating, but with friends it helps to know someone is there cheering you on and is available if you need help. This group of woman was there for me when I REALLY needed prayer and they continue to be there for me as I share my heart with them.

Feeling very thankful for the blessing of friends today :)

five minute Challenge

2011-02-24T22:02:00.000-08:00

This is one of the blogs I like to read
http://thegypsymama.com/2011/02/five-minute-friday-prompt-five-years-ago/
Today on her blog she was having a challenge so I am going to give it a try :)
Here is my challenge:
On Fridays around these parts we have a little tradition. We throw caution (editing, revising, and worrying) to the winds and just write.
For five minutes flat.
You’re welcome to play along. The rules are easy.
1. Write your heart out for five minutes and then show us what you’ve got.
2. Tell your readers you’re linking up here and invite them to play along.
3. And most importantly, go visit, read, and encourage the fellow five-minuter who linked up right before you.

This time 5 years ago, my family and I were living in a small town in No. california, where my hubby was working as a youth pastor. I actually had just had a our 2nd son about 6 or 7 weeks prior :) I have to say that time in my life was a bit of a blur, I was still recovering from a c- section and adjusting to being a mommy to 2 little boys. Our oldest son was 2 years and 8 months old. At that time I was feeling some concern over E's development, we were going through some steps at that time to figure out reasons for his speech and development delays. Thinking back I was actually pretty stressed out and I think and I cried a lot. It is amazing to think that sitting here 5 years onward that E who was later diagnosed with Autism, is doing amazingly well and M just celebrated his 5th birthday. My days were full of taking care of my 2 boys and also supporting my hubby in his ministry at that time too. I wish I had more exciting things to share with you, but that is pretty much what I remember right now along with remembering I watched American Idol as the new season had just started and that was something that brightened my day.........ooops times up :)

Lighthouses

2011-02-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

During the storm
or in the darkness…
follow me…
to a safe harbor.
~~~
From far away…
A friendly light.
~~~
Lighthouses: Guides to friendly harbors.
~~~
Lighting up the night so bright…
For all those who sail by night.
~~~
Lighthouses blow no horns;
they only shine.
(D.L. Moody)

Our fun, crazy day at the beach

2011-02-05T16:25:00.000-08:00

The beach has to be one of our boys favorite places to go. We packed up our van this morning with a picnic, rubber boots, coats and a change of clothing for the boys as we know our boys well and we never go to a beach without a spare change of clothing. We headed over to the coast, it was windy & misty, but the fresh cool air felt refreshing, we certainly got the cobwebs blown out today :)

The boys had fun exploring with dad on the beach

but for some reason the water seemed more appealing, at first they were pretty cautious. But as time went on they became more adventurous

Much more adventurous!!! Boy was I glad I had packed extra clothing. As you can see we have 2 boys who are very full of life.

We had a great day, but it wasn't without it's excitement, either! E lost one of his rubber boots, it got washed out to sea :( He was very sad, he was crying in the car and he said "I am not super cute, I lost my boot!" I guess we need to find a new set of rainboots for him!

After getting some fresh clean, dry clothing on and some welcome food in their belly it was time to go home. Just another day of memories in the making for the G family.

Peanut Butter Cookies- a new recipe which we loved

2011-01-30T17:14:00.000-08:00

At Christmas a dear friend of mine bought me a cook book called "The Cake mix doctor bakes Gluten Free" by Anne Byrn.
Today I decided to try out a recipe and we were very pleasantly surprised, they had good flavor, texture and looked like a peanut butter cookie.

Here is the recipe

1 package (15 ounces) yellow gluten-free cake mix
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Set aside 2 ungreased baking sheets.
Place the cake mix, peanut butter, butter, egg, milk, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients just come together and the cookie dough is smooth, 45 seconds. The dough will be stiff. Place the sugar in a shallow bowl. Form the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball of dough in the sugar and arrange 12 balls on each baking sheet 2 to 3 inches apart. If desired, press down on the balls of dough twice with a fork to make the classic cross-hatch pattern.
Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake the cookies until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Using a metal spatula, immediately transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely, 15 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough.

http://www.cakemixdoctor.com/recipe/gluten-free-peanut-butter-cookies/

I made some adjustments to the recipe to make sure it was Gluten and casein free

This is what E thought of the cookies, we will definitely be baking these again. Dad didn't even notice that they were GF.

Our Gluten free journey

2011-01-30T16:49:00.000-08:00

So our Gluten free journey started almost 4 years ago. A preschool teacher of E's gave me a bunch of information on how the GF diet can help children who are on the Autism spectrum. As we started to eliminate gluten from E's diet, I was totally overwhelmed. It was a whole new world of learning for me. I would stand in the grocery store reading labels and trying to figure out what to feed my dear child. I wanted to give in so many times and let him eat whatever he wanted, but my dear husband kept cheering me on and encouraging us to not give up. About 3 weeks after eliminating Gluten we were amazed at the changes in our little boy! His once glazed over eyes cleared up, he became less puffy and red faced, he also became much more aware of the world around him. His sleep pattern was much better, he started waking up less through the night! It was amazing, I feel that it also helped him to learn and make the progress he has made. We also eventually eliminated Casein, which is the milk protein in dairy products. Again seeing amazing results in our little guy! He started to be interested in communicating, he had more regular bowel movements and became potty trained :)

At the beginning the variety of products was much less than there is now. It has been hit and miss with some foods, but he never complains and is happy if he has an alternative to what others are eating around him. It means planning ahead sometimes, taking food with us everywhere but again it has just become part of our life.

God Gave Me You :)

2011-01-28T09:23:00.000-08:00

In December my husband and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary :) We were married on Dec. 28th 2000 on a very cold, snowy but beautiful day in Northern Ireland!

As I thought about our last 10 years this song that I have heard played on the radio sums up a lot of our marriage :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7M7cJ4DydQ&feature=related

We have been through a few bumpy times, but through it all we both know that we could never have got through those times without each other and more importantly without God! Together we have accomplished much :) We were blessed with 2 special boys, we built our own house, we served together for 6 years of youth ministry, we also survived an Autism diagnosis for our son. Through all of our good and bad times we learned to love, understand and appreciate each other and also to see God's hand in it all, guiding us each step of the way!

We are excited to see what He has for us and our family over the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years :) The picture above was taken in Seattle. We spent a weekend there to celebrate our 10th anniversary!

Dave Barnes - God Gave Me You (Official Video)

2011-01-28T09:20:00.000-08:00

James 1 : 12- 15

2011-01-26T09:30:00.000-08:00

¹² Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
¹³ When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; ¹⁴ but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Observation

Each of us as believers will be tempted or have trials. Satan is our tempter, if we allow ourselves to be overcome by the temptation it drags us away from God.

Our reward is eternal in Heaven.

Application

As I was thinking about these verses over the last few days, I heard a DJ on the radio comment on something that a Christian musician said and his name escapes me now but he said that " his joy in trials comes when he remembers that Heaven is his eternal home" What a wonderful hope we have that our trials and temptations are only on this Earth. Also that as we go through those trials and temptations we know that none of them are unknown to God, he has felt each one of them.
Trials are something that every believer has to go through, just because we are child of God does not mean we are immune to them. Our trials make us stronger, but also help us in relating to and encouraging other people. One of my favorite authors is Joni Eareckson Tada, she herself has gone through a lot in her life, one of her quotes I read this week that I felt was appropriate to this passage is
"The greatest good suffering can do for me is to increase my capacity for God." If we come out of a trial with a deeper desire to love and serve God then it means that it was worth while. None of us like to go through trials as it causes so much pain, yet when we think of what Christ endured on the cross for us then our suffering seems very small in comparison.
"God is more concerned with conforming me to the likeness of His Son than leaving me in my comfort zones. God is more interested in inward qualities than outward circumstances - things like refining my faith, humbling my heart, cleaning up my thought life and strengthening my character." Joni Eareckson Tada

I want to finish with the above quote of Joni's as I think it too really sums up verses 12- 15. Our trials often push us out of our comfort zone and often move us into a much deeper relationship with Jesus. In our trials we need to stay focused on God, Satan will use this time to make us doubt and even to fall away from God. This doesn't mean we can't be sad or feel the pain in our trial, but we also need to cling to Jesus.

James 1 : 7-11

2011-01-21T10:01:00.000-08:00

⁷ That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
⁹ Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. ¹⁰ But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. ¹¹ For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

Observations

These verses are related to the ones previous, when we ask for God's help we need to trust that we will receive it while we are going through our trials. That we will be patient and enduring and to accept it otherwise we won't receive anything.
I read this in Matthew Henry's commentary :
"A mind that has single and prevailing regard to its spiritual and eternal interest, and that keeps steady in its purposes for God, will grow wise by afflictions, will continue fervent in devotion, and rise above trials and oppositions."

Application
We are to look to the long term benefits of the trial and the difficult times. In our trials we have God's grace and this makes us rich. Our afflictions are what makes us stronger.
I know personally when I go through something difficult, that afterwards it helps me relate better to others and help them through their trials. It makes me a stronger person, knowing that God is the ONLY person who is in control of EVERY single detail of my life. I can choose to have Joy and keep my Joy that comes from a personal relations ship from Him or I can choose bitterness and anger, which long term does not have any good benefits, it just makes me a sad and angry person and I also miss out in the blessing of relationship with God. I also desire to cling to God to help me through the storm. To cling to Him and not waver! Being humble in our circumstances is what makes us rich and blessed.

Joy :)

2011-01-19T10:01:00.000-08:00

I have started doing a Bible study in the book of James and the word 'Joy' really struck me, it is a word we use so often :) What does Joy really mean?

• JOY (noun)
The noun JOY has 2 senses:

1. the emotion of great happiness
2. something or someone that provides pleasure; a source of happiness

Familiarity information: JOY used as a noun is rare.

• JOY (verb)
The verb JOY has 2 senses:

1. feel happiness or joy
2. make glad or happy

Familiarity information: JOY used as a verb is rare.

I know the times I feel Joy are normally at times that cause me happiness!
What brings me Joy
Watching my boys play
Drinking coffee
time with freinds I love dearly
walks
sunshine
laughing with my husband
seeing E conquer something he has struggled with for a while
a funny comment from M
good news from family and freinds
seeing my family
a package from my family
a good meal

These are all things I can think of for now, but as I am doing this study I am realizing Joy is something that comes from a true and living relationship with Jesus. We have Joy because of what He did for us on the Cross, we have Joy because our sins are forgiven and we are free from Sin, we have Joy because one day we will join Him in Heaven.
Nothing in our lives can take away that true joy we have through our personal relationship with him, not even trials or circumstances which each of us go through, no matter who we are :)
In my trials, am I going to choose to lean on than inner joy that comes from God and ask Him to help me trust Him and walk with me through my trial and circumstance. Knowing He is with me each step of the way and nothing, absolutely nothing can take that inner Joy away from knowing Him.

James Bible Study- Chapter 1 : 1- 6

2011-01-19T09:28:00.000-08:00

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

Trials and Temptations

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Observations on this passage- James Chapter 1, Verses 1-6
In doing some of my background reading, I found out that James is Jesus brother. When he refers to us as brothers it is a phrase often found in James, marking community of nation and of faith.
Pure Joy when facing trials, these trials help to develop our faith in Christ. We must keep going and not give up, even when we are in the middle of a hard time. v 2-4
v 5 God is the giver of wisdom and we need to ask for him to help us understand.
v6 when we ask God and he answers we are to believe what he shows us.

Application of these verses
How can I apply these to my life? I know for me when I am going through a trial, whether it is something physical, emotional or financial, I know my first thoughts are not to stop and think wow this is Joyful or wow I am going to think of this as a Joy, no I usually get upset and question God why he is doing this :) I worry or fret about the situation.
I am learning that our Joy is not to do with our physical circumstances or the things going on around us, but it is related to our relationship with Jesus and our daily personal relationship with Him. So therefore we should have Joy within us at all times.Not just when things are going well, but our Joy is something permanent within us and also if we have Joy in our lives it won't matter what is going on around us.
When we are tested or going through trials, our response during those times often is a refelction ofour relationship with God and also we respond to what is going on.

V 5 &6 , when we ask God for wisdom we need to trust Him, if we dont we become like a wave being tossed around. When I think of that I think of confusion and when we are confused we sink deeper into doubt and we fall even further away from God.

I am so excited about this study, it is perfect for me right now in regards to a particular circumstance in my own life. When this particular thing happened I was panic stricken, it did not cause me joy, but in the weeks that have followed I have really stopped and questioned what I put my trust in and also if my Joy is really grounded in my relationship with Jesus?

As I dig deeper I am excited to see what God does in my heart over the next 12 weeks!

2010-02-22T14:43:00.001-08:00

How Great is our God?

2010-02-21T20:48:00.000-08:00

I have been singing this particular Chris Tomlin song a lot this week, I just really enjoy it and it is good to remember even when we don't feel like praising God that we should, because He is a GREAT God and He is our God :)

Life here has been busy, M has started speech therapy in the last month. He attends a speech class from 1-3pm on a Thurs. He is talking a lot but it is often hard for others to understand and even mom and dad too, he has some issues with letter sounds and articulation. He is in a class with 7 other little ones his age and he LOVES it :) It is more like a preschool but is set up for them to engage in lots of conversation as they play, sing etc with their peers and teachers. I drive him there, which is only 5 mins from our house and he rides the bus home! Something he has longed to do for a very long time, esp. since big brother gets to ride his bus everyday! Since M has started speech, we have seen improvement and he also has been singing much more :) How Great is our God?

E is going through a "good season" as S and I like to call it! I am not sure if we would have understood this expression a few years ago but anyway we are thankful for this season right now! His transition to 1st grade was difficult for him and seemed to bring with it some other challenges, a lot of which were due to his social development possibly and maybe just feeling overwhelmed with his school schedule?! On Thurs. I had his annual IEP ( Individual Education Plan) I usually go to these meetings a little nervous but this particular one went really well. Along with his IEP they were also reviewing Ethan's history for eligibility to continue receiving Special education services! He still qualifies, I know most people wouldn't find that exciting or be even thankful that their child receives special ed. but for us it is a huge blessing and without it we would not be able to have Ethan in the classroom situation he is in right now which he defnitely needs! Also we have come to terms a long time ago that we have been blessed with a little boy who learns differently and sees the world around him differently! " How Great is our God?".
I watched a small part of a movie recently about a young lady called "Temple Grandin" some of you may be familiar with her, the movie is about her childhood with Autism. She is very famous within the autism community. In the movie when someone calls her daughter different the mom says " Different isn't less" I love that! For some reason when it comes to children with sp. needs we feel like we have been given something less, but I have to say even in the midst of our struggles and challenges we feel like God has given us more! We are learning and growing in ways we never knew or thought we could.......How Great is our God?

In the Fall S & M actually planted some bulbs on Sat. we got to see some of them bloom it was so beautiful to see this new life i nour yard " How Great is our God?"

Well as I finish with my thoughts I will leave you with some pictures of the last few weeks with the G Family!

Yes this is Mud :)

Who is madder the Hatter or the Irishman?

New life in our yard, E is very excited about the beautiful crocus

Hotdog roast in our backyard, one of our newest fun things to do!

How Great is our God, Sing with me How Great is our God and all willl we see how great, how great is our God :)

2010-02-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

So what have we been up to since I last blogged. Here are a few things:

This is one of our favorite parks, as you can see there were some friendly visitors too :) The boys love to play here and the peacocks are an added attraction!

We had fun sensory play time with water and cornstarch, messy but very fun, so glad I have laminated floors.............phew!!

Play time in the mud :) I know this doesn't come as a surprise to most of you!

As you can see our family likes to have fun and we also love to spend time together. I honestly can't think of a better way to spend my time than with the people I love the most!

The Lord has blessed us with 2 very active boys, with that activity also comes some individual challenges. I have often been told " boy do you have your hands full". At first i used to get kind of offended with this comment not quite knowing how to respond, wondering if people were making a comment about my parenting or my kids? Now I say "yes I do" but I also respond with "yes and a full heart" :) No matter the challenges, I know that I don't do this on my own.

Yesterday we went on a family walk up to a waterfall in our area ( sorry no pictures, forgot camera) It was sucha beautiful day, it was also so refreshing to spend time with my family outside. As I was walking I was thinking on the hymn " How great thou Art" . We don't always take the time to think of God's greatness, but out in His creation, it made me think about this and how thankful and grateful that I am that He is a "Great " God! No matter the challenges we face, I have to say that time outdoors and with my family and God made me forget about my momentary troubles and just enjoy the blessings in life.

A bad case of Stripes!

2010-01-20T20:21:00.000-08:00

On Wed. E gets to go to the school library, he just loves it. I always wait in anticipation to see what he may bring home, in the past we have had quite a variety! We have had history of trains, Sea creatures, famous landmarks of America, now that one was cool, and the most interesting of all was one week we had the "yucky book" which was a very detailed book on bugs and dustmites that lurk in our homes, yes makes for very interesting bedtime reading. Today he brought home a book called " A bad case of Stripes". After shower time the boys and I sat down with excitement to read this book! It was about a young girl called Camilla Cream who loved Lima beans but because her friends didn't like them she wouldn't eat them because she was scared of what her friends would think. She was always worried about what others thought of her, so in the story she started to turn into whatever people would say about her or the advice they would give her !
In the end she realized that it was ok for her to eat Lima beans if she liked them, it really didn't matter if people thought she was weird!

I of course got thinking about this story and how it can be applied to our lives. I think of how much time and energy I put into worrying about what others think about me. Often fretting and worrying over silly things! When I do this it robs my joy and steals away precious time and energy that I could be putting into other things! It also can make me miss out on things because my fear of what others may think holds me back!
At the end of the day we should be concerned about what does God think? Does our decisions, actions line up with His word? Are the things we are doing, saying, the thoughts we are thinking are they glorifying to Him?
I think for a lot of us women especially we are often concerned about what people think of our lives, our marriages, how we parent, how our children are acting, how we look physically! We compare ourselves so much that it often can take away from really enjoying good friendships with each other! So what if our pants don't match our shirt, our hair isn't the current style, we aren't driving the best car. We need to be using our time wisely, being the person God has intended us to be and enjoying the people and things in our lives he has blessed us with!

http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Case-Stripes-David-Shannon/dp/0590929976

Blogging again!

2010-01-17T18:43:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say I am back blogging again, can hardly believe it has been well over a year. Thank you Belinda for encouraging me to do this again and other friends :) It is fun to read over my posts and see what I was thinking, feeling doing over a year ago!

Since then we have moved into our home, it is still a wonderful blessing. I just love my home and feel very thankful for it everyday! I never thought we could ever own our own house! So we should never think things are impossible! Yes we had to work hard for it, but I have to say I have kind of forgotten what it felt like during that time, I just remember it was a lot of hard work and sacrifice!

Well that is my little intro. for now I hope to be back again soon. Hopefully I can figure out how to make it a little more pretty and interesting. I had dial up way back when I first started blogging and so it took forever to upload anything!

Be back soon............Jayne

houses, mud puddles and much more!

2008-11-07T09:19:00.000-08:00

Since I last blogged I can now report that we have all 10 of the houses up that we are building! It is such a great feeling when you drive into the cul de sac and see all 10 houses standing! Wow, I found myself last Sat. getting quite emotional as I drove in, thinking of the sacrifice and hard labor that everyone out there has given to build their own house or help someone else to build their home :)
We have the siding up on our house and are ready to paint, that has been quite a fiasco trying to pick out paint, really can it be that hard???? I think I told some of you that I had picked out this color and when I went out tot he house to test it on the siding Sabin took one look at it and said it was pink, I tried to convince myself it wasn’t! I said oh it will be fine once it is on there, yeah right a week later I looked at it, yes it was definitely pink!!! Sabin said he couldn’t live in a pink house, even though I am the only girl in our family right now I don’t think I can either!! So anyway I went back to the paint store and talked with a very knowledgeable lady who helped me pick another color and so we tried it out too and love it :)
The boys are adjusting to a new routine after Summer, E is doing very well in kindergarten and we have seen him progress with his speech, lots of new words and trying to converse with us! It makes a huge difference for him to be able to comunicate a little better! He is a very bright little boy, loves to sing. Last week I hear him humming a familar tune, then I heard hmmm hmmm hmmm be in dat mumber...............he was singing when the saints go marching in!!! It was so funny! A few weeks ago, I was feeling very sad, nothing in particular had happened. But I had been thinking on and off about Ethan and his diagnosis, I happened to look at my calendar and then I realised it had a been a year since we had taken him to OHSU and had him evaluated! I am thankful to be a year on from the diagnosis as I know that much progress has been made and it has been a blessing for our family to know. But there are still times when I feel a little sad and it hits me. I talked to Sabin about it and he said he feels the same way some days too! I guess in a way it is a good thing, it helps me work through some of the emotions I feel and also makes me trust God even more with E! I have read many articles recently on special needs and it suddenly struck me how much of a blessing E is to our family, yes it is hard but it is really making us better people and also he brings something to our lives that we would never have experienced otherwise :) Everything he does he approaches it with excitement and puts his all into it!

M is doing well, I am enjoying my time with him while E is at school. Although that has been an adjustment too, he has had a hard time with him being gone all day! In the am if he is awake he has to stand at the door and wave at the bus until it is gone! I ask him where E is during the day and he tells me " he is on a bus " :)
Yesterday M & I had a lot of fun, we went to the park it has been cold and dreary here but I figured it was time to get out for a while. So I had M well dressed, hat and coat and I took a picnic lunch and a towel to the park to wipe down the equipment but it never dawned on me that the actual ground would be wet!!! yikes!! So there was huge puddles at the bottom of every slide, so my little boy decided it would be fun to splash a little bit with the puddle, then he started to run through out, which I was thinking ok, this is fine but then all of a sudden he is on the ground rolling in it!!! I am thinking ok , there is nobody here!! Then I hear voices, ugggghhh I am sure they are thinking crazy for lettng her son do this!Then I heard hi Jayne, it was my freind :) With her 3 kids, two of which are boys and of course they joined in the fun too!!! They were so wet, her boys even took their shoes and socks off!!!
Anyway after much fun, we decided once little teeth started chatter it was time to go!! WhenI got home I soaked M's clothes and then washed them, my washing machine was full of bark muclh, so i got my vaccum cleaner out and cleaned out my washing machine........lol!!

Well I need to finish up my ramblings, while typing here M has brought 5 trucks placed them on my knee and is now sitting behind me on the chair pinching my arm, do you think he may want my attention???

Will try and blog again soon :)

New beginnings!

2008-09-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

This past week, was like a new chapter for our family. E started kindergarten and we also started work on our home :)
E had a great first week, I am always so thankful with him when things go well. Especially new transitions as I know it can be so hard for him! This am he was content again, I put him on the bus and there was a little boy crying :( He looked about E's age and his face was so sad, another boy was sitting with his hands over his ears, I guess trying to muffle the noise. It brought a tear to my eye, it is easy for me to have compassion for these special little ones!! I am not sure if I would have understood a few years ago but in some ways I am very thankful that God has allowed our family to experience it!

I am also very thankful for Special education and for people who have a desire to work with the kids and to try and understand their world :)

Yesterday after 5 months of waiting and helping others to build their homes we got to work on our own!! It was so strange to be standing inside the foundaions of our soon to be built house!! Very exciting, I can't wait to be in there and enjoying it with my family.
Well someone needs me so I need to go, isn't it nice to be needed :)

Life with the G family is never dull!!!

2008-08-24T14:33:00.000-07:00

Let's see what has happened this past week? Well the good news is we have foundations on our lot :) We got them on Friday of this last week, very exciting!! We will finish up on the exterior type stuff with the other 7 and then start on the final 3 and then move back onto the others to do the inside work!!
I had fun yesterday I got to cut out the door ways, with this big saw saw I think that is what you call it?? I also got up on the trusses again to help with that, that wasn't such a wonderful time for me, i felt very nervous but I am glad I was able to help!!

I got E registered for Kindergarten on Wed. He starts Sept. 2nd and I am very anxious about it, but I know he will love it and he is need of the routine again!

Thurs. didn't get off to a good start at all, I woke up with a migrane headache, I get so sick to my stomach with these, not fun when your home with the kids alone :( I was so thankful though as M slept in that am until 9.30am he doesn't do this normally, I think it was God's grace. The a few hours later M & I got locked out of the house by E, we coaxed him into letting us back in as we were out there in our P.J.s. The boys had got out of the house while I was on the phone with my mum she had called earlier in the morning when I was sick, so she was checking up on me, when I had my back turned the boys got out the front door and were running around outside in their PJ'S so I went outside to bring them in again and while getting M, E locked the door.......ahhhhhhhhhh!!! Once we got inside I figured it was time for some quiet creative play so we got out the playdough, now what else could go wrong? Well somehow the playdough got wet, not sure how as I was in the kitchen the whole time but anyway E had playdough all stuck to his legs, which then got stuck to my carpet!!! GROAN!!! I looked at the clock and it was only noon!!!
Thankfully things got better in the afternoon :)

Anyway that was enough excitement for one morning, actually for one week!!! hehehe

house building update!

2008-08-11T23:04:00.000-07:00

ok two blogs in the one day, I know.......shocking! It is hard to believe we are now into our 4th month of building these houses! We have 7 out of the 10 on the go! It is just amazing to see these houses go up and to know you were part of it all, I love the fact that once they are all done and I am walking or driving past that I will be able to look at them and remember exactly what I did on that house :)
The foundations for our home have not been started yet, they told us another week and a half, oh I hope so!! It is kind of hard to see all the other houses go up and ours not be started but no-one moves in until all the houses are done!!

We have been really enjoying building, but it is a lot of work! The boys have done amazingly well through all of this, I think they do miss us as they sometimes seem kind of mad at us when we get home, but we are doing it for them, not that they understand that right now but hopefully in a few years they will :) I am learning so many new things, it is so funny for me to now see a house and take note of it's color, how it's made etc. things I never would have thought about before!

I can't believe we are now into August, I love Summer and don't want it to be over just yet! But I do look forward to the day when we can move into our new home and also daydream about next summer, having our own house, yard and hopefully lots of people coming to visit us!

brothers having fun

2008-08-11T22:52:00.000-07:00

I can't seem to figure out how to post any pictures on here!! I am not sure if it is with having dial up that is just takes forever!! I will have to give it another try, so for now you will have to make do with just my ramblings :)
Today is the third day that M has been successfully potty training! I can't believe it, it seems like he was just born! He is doing such a good job, it so funny to see him in big boy underwear! Tonight we went to Sabin's moms house for dinner, afterwards we were sitting in the living room watching TV, the boys wanted a cookie so I had them up at the table, from the living room we could hear giggles, M was sitting cracking up at E:) It was so cute to see him enjoying his big brother, E was laughing too, not sure what was so funny? Just a blessing to see them have fun and to be interacting, something I was never really sure at one time would happen!

I am thankful for my boys, they remind me to enjoy the simple things in life and to just stop and enjoy the moment, something we often forget to do as we get older and busier!

good times!

2008-08-03T20:54:00.000-07:00

This past week Sabin was on vacation and we had good freinds from Wa. come down to visit us for a couple of days and to help work on the house a little. It was a couple that we met in college and have known for ten years but we hadn't seen them for about 4 years. It was one of those really fun weeks of catching up, enjoying each others company and lots of laughter. One night after all our kids were fast asleep in bed we brought out the game Ballderdash, it was hilarious as we were all very tierd which made for us being pretty silly and we all sat around giggling like we were back in high school without a worry or a care in the world!! The next morning one of their girls who is about 6 yrs old said " I heard you guys playing that game" I said I know we were being pretty silly, she said yes :) Good times with freinds are so special and also a great reminder to me of how important freindship is to all of us!! I think no matter our age we all long to connect with someone! We want to have those special people in our lives who encourage us, love us, support us and even at times challenege us! Our family has been very blessed to have several of those kind of freinds in our lives.

Walking in Someone Else's Shoes

2008-05-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

Recently in our area they had an event called "walking a mile in her shoes" it was to bring awareness in regards to domestic violence, they had men walk for a mile in ladies high heel shoes! I think this would be a challenge for even some women, me in particular who prefers flat heeled shoes! I guess the idea of it was to bring an awareness and understanding to other people as to what it is like to be someone else!
Something happened to me the other day that brought this particular phrase to mind. It was one of those events that before I had children or understood what it was like to have a child with Autism I would probably have rolled my eyes, mumbled parenting advice under my breath and made a judegement about the situation.

We had made a visit to the Dr. with E and while there it just did not go very well at all! It ended in me having to carry a kicking, screaming and very frustrated little boy out of the dr. office, during all this I vcould feel all eyes on us, even murmurs coming from those in the waiting room!

Even though we finally made it out the door, it went from bad to worse, with him not wanting to get in the car or his seat! It was really quite awful!
I have had other things similar to this happen before, but it had been a while!!!

This situation reminded me we are all walking in different shoes. Somedays I don't particularly like the shoes that I have to walk in , sometimes they hurt, they make me cry, they make me tierd, make me sad and sometimes even a little angry! Yet all of us have some kind of shoes we are walking in that we don't like either, whether it be illness, fianancial worries, marital concerns, maybe even sleep deprivation from a newborn baby. But for me going through this and walking in these shoes I really hope makes me stop and not be so quick to judge a persons actions or a particular situation! It gives me insight into a whole new world that definitely did not understand before!

I don't like Autism, I don't like that we have a son with Autism and I don't like that my son has to deal with it too! But for some reason this is what God has chosen for our family and I want to be able to walk in these shoes with Grace, Love, Patience and mercy and with out judgement of others too.

Happy New year

2007-12-31T21:42:00.000-08:00

I was thinking tonight about New Year, I do always look forward to it with anticiaption and excitement but I know sometimes there is a part of me that is also a little nervous. Yes, I know who holds the future, but I know that I still allow myself to become a little fearful. Maybe b/c this past year has been a little rough at times. Although in it all I have seen God's faithfulness, that has never changed.
I kind of see it as another chapter closing and one just about to open again! There are some things that we can anticipate happening, but again most of the time we just have to continue to trust as we continue in our daily journeys.

I look forward this year to building our house, we have a starting date now. They are breaking ground on Jan. 10th and we will start to build on 14th! I am excited and nervous about this new venture! I am excited about working with Sabin on the house! I can't think of a better building partner :)
I look forward to seeing Ethan & Micah learning and growing! They are both fun and great little boys. They bring us much joy!
I have hopes too for this New Year, it is so important to have hope. I think that is what keeps us going, but it needs to be focused on God. It is because of Him that we have hope :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Time really does fly!!

2007-12-27T20:55:00.000-08:00

So where did Christmas go? It is hard to believe that 2 days ago we actually celebrated our Savior's birth! As the popular saying goes 'Time really does fly" Yesterday we went into the grocery store and they already had a display of Valentine chocolate, gfits & candy all set up. I was in shock!!! Then today, I was in Walmart, all the Christmas candy, ornaments etc. were 50 % off and they had Valentine candy all set up opposite the reduced Christmas candy. The other weird thing I saw was they were also starting to bring in some Easter stuff too!!!! It seems like in the commerical world they go straight from one holiday to the other.
But it really made me stop and think about how we live our lives too!!! I was actually feeling quite sad yesterday, everything had pretty much returned back to normal, Sabin was even back to work and they didn't even have any special programs on the T.V??. Then today, when I returned from my little shopping trip, I came home to no Christmas tree!!! I was kind of sad, although I know Sabin was doing a good thing to help me! It almost seemed like we hadn't even celebrated Christmas. It seems like we too just get wrapped up in life, working, going to one appointment after another and sometimes we really don't stop. We too like the commerical world live for the next event rather than stopping and really enjoying what each day brings. Whether it is a special celebration or just another day! There are so many of those moments in each day that we can enjoy. Sometimes it may mean me stopping in the middle of dinner and turning off the stove so I can hold Micahor sitting down and helping Ethan put his train track together when I am in the middle of trying to fold yet another load of laundry. Maybe just apprecaiting those special moments in our childrens lives. Recently Ethan' s speech has really progressed. But on Christmas Eve, Ethan had stepped out of the shower, came over to me. I was standing right by our linen closet and he pointed and said to me " Hey I need a towel' Maybe not just so clear, but clear enough for us to exactly know what he was saying!!! As you can imagine Sabin & I stood their with our mouths open, then Sabin started to count on his fingers, he said 5 words!!!! yeaaahhh Ethan!!!
That is one of those precious moments that we again need to stop and enjoy!!

Looking for love?

2007-12-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

Last night we took our boys to McDonalds in the evening as there is an indoor play area and they can let off some steam! They had been inside all day, so they were really in need of running around and getting out of the house and so was mummy too :)
Boy, that place was noisy, all it takes is for one child to scream and then they all start!!! You really wouldn't need to be of a nervous diposition!! There was probably 12 kids in there but it sounded like 50!!

Anyway, Micah was running back and forward having a blast, then all of a sudden he falls and hits his head. He got up and started to rub his head, we could see him looking around wondering if anyboy was going to show him love or symapathy, then he gets up and goes over to a little girl about the same age as himself and tries to give her a hug. Unfortunately for Micah the little girl wasn't too interested in the fact that he needed some tender loving care and someone to make him feel all better!
Thinking about it later, I thought about many people who are looking for love, for someone to know that they need a little tlc, someone to take notice of them and to show them that they are loved and are special. If we slow down enough or even stop and take a look around us when we are out and about, we can see them. Maybe it is that person in the grocery store who stops to talk to you about your baby, the person on the corner of the road with a sign for food, the tired mom at the dr. office? You just never know? Especially this time of year, it is a huge opportunity for us to take time and really show others what Christmas is all about! I know myself I feel like i am always in a hurry, so it is a good reminder to me too!
All of us have something to give to others even if it is our time, a smile and encouraging word you never know how you can bless others and be that TLC that they need!

breathing!

2007-12-06T08:55:00.000-08:00

Do you ever wake up and just think, where do I start? It seems like so much needs to be taken care of and your house looks like such a mess you don't know where to start? Well that is how I felt this morning :) I didn't know whether to eat first, feed the kids, clean up , take a shower, have my coffee or just go back to bed!!!
So what I did do was pray! I prayed for a good attitude, strength and also for peace. It is so easy to get overwhelmed and I know when I feel like that I don't get much achieved and plus I also have a bad attitude that lasts throughout the day! So far things are going well!!!

Yesterday the boys had been playing in their bedroom, I walked in there to find they had gone into their closet and had opened every box that was in there. The boxes had been filled with clothes that I needed to either give away or take to good will! They had piled the clothes up on the floor and had taken the boxes and had made a tower :) I didn't know whether to be frustrated with them for the mess or to praise them for their creativity!!! They were having so much fun with those boxes and actually played with them most of the day and this morning. I know it is so easy for me to react and then realize afterwards ok if I just take a moment to breath and think about the siutation, maybe it is not so bad!!

The last few weeks, I have had a lot of those moments!! As a mum/mom you want to do your best and do your best for your family!
Since we have had Ethan's diagnosis of Autism, I have had some really good and some really bad days!! I have tried to step back at times and evaluate the situation, but there are times when I am so exhausted, upset and confused that I know I don't react the way I should!
I think God that He is a God who never changes, he is the same each and everyday, no matter the situation. Midst the craziness, I thank God for that as it is one of the things that keeps me getting up and doing what He has called me to do each day!

A full belly and a full heart

2007-11-24T15:43:00.000-08:00

Well we just got back after spending Thanksgiving with Sabin's mom. We drove out to her house on Wed. night and stayed there until Lunch time today ( Saturday). It was a good time for us! I have to say we enjoyed the fact that we only had to drive 30 mins to stay with family. It is nice out at her house, it is quiet, she has no landline phone and only 2 channels on her TV! Some people may see this as a disadvantage, but it was actually a Blessing! It meant no internet connection, so I was forced to take a break from cyber world! One of my weaknesses! Also not much of a TV choice, so another good thing! And no phone ringing!
Thanksgiving dinner was a treat and so delicious as always!! Everyone ate until their hearts and stomachs were content! Then the best part of the day for me was I got to take a nap!!!! A very rare treat for me and it was wonderful, I felt like it was my birthday :)
Both boys got to play outside until they were filthy dirty! This was a definite treat for them too. Ethan especailly as he got to play in his Grandma's dirt pile!! I am amazed though as bthey don't seem to feel the cold, although I had them bundled up and then they got to take warm showers!
Sabin and I did join the other crazy people out shopping, but we didn't get up at an ungodly hour, we woke up when we were ready and then headed in to see what was left! We did come home with some great buys and the coolest thing of all is a new Christmas tree for our house! I am so excited to decorate our little place and dream of what it will be like hopefully next year to decorate our brand new home!!!

Well, I need to finish up but this was one of our best holidays in a long time and a really relaxing and fun few days!! We feel refreshed and ready to face the challenges of a new week!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-21T08:43:00.000-08:00

I love Thanksgiving! One of my favorite American holidays!! I am not sure why, I think it is maybe that it is not as commerialised as Christmas and it does seem to be a little more low key! I enjoy the turkey and all the fixings and most of all the time to be with my family! For my friends back in Northern Ireland I thought I would post a link to a website if you are interested in finding out what is all about! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving

I am going to try today and attempt to make gluten free bread rolls for the boys! They love bread and with them being on a gluten/dairy free diet I always feel so bad for them when they can't have what we are enjoying! I am also going to make a pumpkin cake that they can eat and they love! SO I am going to get going here soon and attempt to make these rolls. Ethan is in preschool this morning and Micah is actually still fast asleep, so a good time for me to go and get busy!

The day after Thanksgiving day is known as Black Friday! It is because it is one of the biggest retail days in America and where most businesses hope to get out of the black finacially! It is CRAZY!!! But I actually kind of enjoy going out there and watching all the craziness! I am definitely not willing to wait in line for that next great deal, but if I can make it up and out there I may brave the crowds on Friday!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING :)

Simple Pleasures

2007-11-19T08:42:00.000-08:00

As a mum sometimes my days are so busy and even a little stressful. As I go about my day, I like to try and enjoy the simple things of life. It might be something my boys do or some kind of yummy treat or just whatever comes my way! Since Ethan doesn't really talk very much, when he does say something or says something new it causes a lot of excitement around here! One of his latest passions is hotdogs, I was very happy recently to find gluten free, perservative free hotdogs at our grocery store. He absolutely loves them! The other day I found some breakfast sausage links that were also all natural. We cooked them up for breakfast and Ethan sat up at the breakfast bar and he looked at them and started to say baby, baby, baby hotdogs :)

Micha has figured how to get out of his crib at night. So we had a few nights of him in and out, in and out of the crib and his bedroom. On Saturday night, we put him back in again and he never came out, so we were glad about that! I always check on the boys before I go to bed, to make sure they have their blankets over them! I walked into the bedroom to find Micah laying on the floor right beside Ethan's bed fast asleep, he had all his blankets righ there! He looked so snuggly and warm! I decided to let him sleep there, he slept until 5am when I heard his little footsteps so I went in and put him back into his crib with his blanket and he went back to sleep :) They were having their own little slumber party!

I love this time of year as the grocery store always has some kind of different foods. The other day I found a new treat for me at the grocery store, it is called Chai Nog! Anyway once the boys are in bed, I make myself a cup of this Chai nog and last night I really splurged and put some whipped cream and nutmeg on top.......hhmmmm delicious!!

I think it is good to stop and enjoy the simple pleasures of life, they give us joy, refreshment and sometimes just a that little bit of encouragement to keep going!

Feeling Thankful

2007-11-17T12:26:00.000-08:00

Well I think it has been almost a month since I set this up and wrote anything!! I am not doing too good am I ?
Well with Thanksgiving coming up, I have been thinking about what I am thankful for! I wrote something the other day for a competition that was on the radio . You were to write or call in with what you were thanful for, so this is what I shared with them! I didn't get a call or win anything but it was good for me to sit down and write this, so I am going to share it here too!

Being Thankful!
I think what I am most thankful for is God's faithfulness! This past year has been a like a rollercoaster ride for our family! We have 2 beautiful little boys, Ethan aged 4 1/2 and Micah 22 months! Over the last couple of years we have had some concerns over our oldest sons development. We had our suspicions and fears but never had an official diagnosis. In Sept. this year we took Ethan for a full development evaluation and our fears were confirmed! Our little boy was diagnosed with autism. For us as parents we had felt for over a year that we had been walking around in darkness, just finally to know what was going on with our little boy was a relief! The day we were told this news, I did feel very sad but I also had an amazing sense of God's peace and also confidence that He was going to be with us each step of this journey!
I am not saying it is easy, my husband and I both have days of feeling sad, disappointment with the situation, and an overwhelming sense of the responsibilty of raising this precious little boy!! But in the midst of all this we have been very aware of God's provision for our family. We took a step of faith at the beginning of the year, my husband resigned from his job as a youth pastor, and we moved our family so that we could be closer to my husbands mom! We also wanted to be in an area where we could get more help for our son. We had no job and no home, but each step of the way God has provided exactly what we need! We don't know what God has long term for our family, but we are willing to follow Him each step of the way, as we know we cannot do it without Him! We also know God's timing is perfect in everything that has happened in the last year.

Joining the bloggers

2007-10-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

Well this is something I have been wanting to do for quite some time now!! I love to write, so thought this would be a fun and creative way for me to jot down my thoughts when I have one!!
I have family and freinds all over the world, so another great way to keep everybody updated!

I need to try and figure out how to post pictures but when I do, I will try and post some pictures of me and my family!

Well I am going to go and try and figure out this blog business a bit more, but will be trying to write something on a regular basis...............Love Jayne