Thoughts

It's been kind of a weird month for me. So here are a few of the random thoughts floating around somewhere in this tired brain.

- I've found myself frustrated and burned out on homeschooling - I think it's the time of year. We are in our final few months and we are in our final 4 weeks of our homeschool group. We keep pressing on though and the boys have made great progress this year! I love the curriculum(s) we are using and overall I have enjoyed homeschooling far more than I ever imagined. We continue to take it one year at a time and that works for us.

- My Grandma's death has still just been a really hard thing for me. Tears sneak up when I least expect them, my voice catches and throat tightens. I still hear her voice, her advice, her laugh and I still feel her soft, cool hand. She would have been 92 this past weekend. I don't wish her back - she is in a better place - but I think the reality of it is sinking in by stages and it's incredibly painful. I haven't even been able to think about writing much because I just think of her - she was a gifted writer and encouraged me to blog.

- We are actively praying that God will lead us in how He wants us to be involved in orphan care. We sense that He is not finished growing our family. I am daily overwhelmed by the need, convicted of my responsibility to continue advocating, and challenged to never give up. Admittedly, I struggle with feeling like so few understand the urgency, the tremendous need, the epidemic, the responsibility. As I've told my husband many times (and he agrees) - we can offer love, a family, safety, and most importantly the Gospel to ANY child.

I wrote this on fb today: I think if we walked in an orphan's shoes for just a short time, our eyes and hearts would be incredibly opened. I can't even imagine my big boys' first year...and millions (est. 163,000,000) of children haven't found families. As my heart breaks, I can't help but continually ask God what more I can do...

This is our prayer. What can we do? We continue to ask and seek and remain open to God's leading.

Grandma's Recipes

In case you are interested (and don't follow us on facebook), we've been sharing some of our Grandma's Recipes over at The Cooks Next Door. My sister and I have both wished we could talk to her about her recipes - she wrote out the ingredients on many recipes but not the instructions. She was just that good of a cook! It's been a little trial and error for us. :)

It's been fun to look through her recipe box, imagine her pulling out her favorites, and wondering what she made most recently over the holidays. She made tiny notes about the ones she really liked which is wonderful to stumble upon. I happily remember delicious meals in her home and some really excellent cookies.

These are so delicious! A family tradition that originated with Grandma!

It has been a joy for us to make and post her recipes as a tribute to a beautiful, inspirational person inside and out. We love you and miss you, Grandma!

Superbowl!

We headed to Superbowl Village yesterday afternoon! We all enjoy football, so our boys were very excited to join in the festivities. What fun! So proud of our city - they have done an amazing job. Hoping the GIANTS win - we are definitely Manning fans! :)

Love this pixture...even if the number ARE backwards - we had one on the other side of just the boys and me but it didn't turn out nearly as well.