Major Updates

I thought maybe a big update on our whole family is due because of my lack of entries lately. I am very sorry I haven't kept up that well. I am hoping this summer will allow me a little more time to take pictures and blog. I will start with Jayna...

Jayna is so enjoying school this year. She loves her teacher, Mrs. Robinson. She works hard and is doing a marvelous job! She recently told Dr. Juarbe that her favorite subject is math. She also loves to read and just recently passed on to the next level in the reading lab that all the students go to. Also, Jayna was named student of the month in March! We are so very proud of her! She enjoys her church activities very much as well. She loves her Sunday School teachers and her Wednesday night CLC teachers. This coming Wed., she will receive all the badges she earned this year by learning about the truths in the Bible and applying them. Jayna has such a loving heart. We so enjoy her fun-loving spirit!

Autumn is growing and changing all of the time, as are most kids at this age. She is quite a spunky gal. She spent a night in the hospital again a few weeks ago and they were calling her "the wild woman." (This is what we often say about her at home as well.) She loves to TALK, go outside exploring, blow bubbles, read, run around everywhere, etc. The girl is almost always on the move and so is her jaw. She has found a love for some new foods too: blueberries, suckers, popsicles, green beans, Italian wedding soup...(she likes to keep us guessing). Isn't this picture of the blueberry face just hilarious?!?!

Jayna and Autumn are definitely typical sisters. On Easter morning, they were loving each other and finding eggs together. They also can't wait to greet each other in the morning or after school. They have the other sister side too...bugging, teasing, fighting, etc. All in all, they have so much love for one another and are each others joy.
Aaron has been working very hard these past few months. He has had to be out of town a lot too. His work at church has kept him busy too. Even though these last few months have been tiring for him, he does it because he loves others and he is very good at serving them, whether it be at work, church, home or wherever he might be. He does find time to relax here and there though. He enjoys playing his Wii, goofing around with us girls and following/watching sports. He is looking forward to the golfing season...that is if his finger allows him to swing a club. He is really looking forward to golfing with Jayna in the 2nd annul Terry Hess golf outing this month.

I am keeping myself busy with home (husband, kids, chores), work and service in the church. I have been leading (more like guiding) a ladies Bible study on Thursday nights. This has been a true blessing for me. I am so enjoying the ladies. They are a joy and God is working! I am really enjoying watching my family grow in God! I am so thankful that is who we as a family choose to serve and honor!

Last Sunday we celebrated the 2nd anniversary of Pops'/Grandpa's homegoing. We spent the day together as a family and with our friends. It was a day of memories, laughter, tears and a lot of love. This is one of the greatest gifts that he provided all of us with. His love was amazing, as was his laughter, bird calls, humor, hugs, wisdom, selflessness, guidance, forgiveness, etc. He was this way because of the Creator he served for so many years. God is love, peace, patience, comfort, wisdom, salvation, all-knowing, forgiving...GOD IS ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME! Thank you Lord for our time with a wonderful man, Terry David Hess. Thank you God for ALL that you are!

Spring Break '08

Since Aaron was working out of town for Spring Break, us girls decided not to sit around the house and stare at each other all week. We packed up and went on a little trip. We spent the first night with Grandpa Shutes and Grandma Connie. After that fun, we picked up Grandpa Gene and Grandma Ellie and headed for Sandusky, Ohio. This is where we checked into a Great Wolf Lodge and had a BALL! The girls loved the water, all the activity, sleeping in a hotel, playing nonstop, etc. We also were able to meet up with some family in the area and enjoyed dinner with them, as well as some nice visiting time. It was so much fun, as you can see from the pictures.

Here is Autumn wondering a bit about the water.
She is starting to smile a bit here.
Now she is loving it for sure!
Jayna is quite a fish. It didn't take her long to get right into the water and cause a SPLASH!
Us girls really enjoyed our time together. It was great having Grandpa and Grandma with us too. (Grandpa didn't want us to post any pictures of him, so we honored it.)

Fun in the Snow After Being Sick

Here are some picutres from about 1-2 months ago. Aaron took the girls outside because they had been in the house for so many days from sickness.

Here comes Auti!
Jayna geers up to throw a snowball at Mom who has the camera.
Autumn is having fun in Jayna's sled. We have a very small slope in our front yard.
Jayna thinks she can take her dad down in the snow, while Autumn watches from the bottom of the slope.
Obviously, Dad won this one. (Autumn still watching patiently.)

Easter...New Life

My sister-in-law sent me a wonderful email. I liked the message very much and thought you might too. Have a beautiful Easter!

Motherhood often seems just like spring. It's a season of extremes. During a spring day, it can be freezing, raining, blowing and sunny--all in an hour. Mothers can be yelling, crying, pleading, and cuddling--all in a matter of minutes.

Extreme mothering begins with the "extreme" wait. We wait, filled with impatience, for that once-in-a-lifetime call from the adoption agency or we count the days until our due date. We wait to witness our baby's first step. We wait to see if the preschooler will ever stay dry.

We long to hear our elementary child read aloud with fluency as they master their first reader. We hold our breath as we listen to our children recount their first day of junior high. We pray constantly throughout high school as our children begin to drive and date.

Then, we wait to hear how they're really doing in college or in their first apartment.

As moms, we also plan in extremes. One minute we've got all our ducks in a row. The next, our children moved every duck until nothing is going according to our perfect plan--today, this week, this month or this year. We live every day of mothering activating Plans B, C, D and E.

We may even plan for an extreme, fun-filled Easter ending up with everyone too sick for one bite of Easter candy. Extreme mothering also shows up in our emotions. We whisper under our breath that we won't live through one more day of a particular childhood stage. A few months later, tears well up remembering that our children will never be that little again.

Some days we're angry with their willful behavior. By the next day, we're so proud of them that we send out a press release to family and friends.

But the ultimate extreme found in mothering involves compassionate, zealous, sacrificial love for our children. There's a she-bear inside us ready to lay down our lives to protect our cubs. We adore and protect our children to the extreme--beyond distraction, distance or empirical data.

This compassionate, no-holds-barred kind of parental love is celebrated on Easter. The perfect heavenly parent sent a perfect son into a totally imperfect world to save totally imperfect people--by sacrificing the life of his son.

Today people still give up the lives of their beloved children to save the lives of others. A few years ago, I read a story in a national news magazine about two sets of parents--one whose son needed a heart transplant and the other whose son died and donated his heart.

The mother of the son who donated his heart held the son who lived and breathed. In the chest of this healthy baby boy beat her dead son's heart--still alive, still thumping--although he died.

I can't imagine the poignant pain, yet agonizing joy, of holding someone else's son whose healthy, pounding heart belonged to the son I lost.

Asking Jesus into our hearts is like what happened between these two mothers. At the time of death, one mother willingly gave up her son's heart so it could beat in another. It's as though our father in heaven did exactly the same thing. God looked down knowing that this totally imperfect mom was worth the suffering and death of his one and only son. He placed the heart of his son into me so that I might live. Simply put, God replaced my dying heart with the living heart of Christ. His son died so that I will live eternally.

The Bible says: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ gave up his life for us." 1 John 3:16.

That's a supreme extreme of a parent's love to give up the life of a beloved child to save the life of another. Why not ask God today for the living heart of his son to replace your own dying heart so you, too, will live eternally? And have a happy extreme Easter--no matter what the weather or too much candy might bring!

-Mary Steinke: Mary speaks at retreats and moms groups, teaches Bible studies, writes many Hearts at Home newspaper articles, and serves on the Publishing Team for Hearts at Home. Before children, she worked in full-time ministry as chaplain in such diverse settings as nursing homes and prisons. Mary resides in Normal , Illinois , with her husband, Harry, and three sons.

Sorry...Hang in There

I am sorry I haven't posted in awhile. We have battled a couple more illness and the fight is still on. Nothing too serious, just annoying stuff like the rest of the world. God's promise of a new season is very encouraging! Here is a little encouragement for you while you await the spring season too...continue to cast all your cares upon the Lord. He hears them, cares for them and will help you. Stay tuned for some pictures of fun in the snow after being cooped up together in the house. I will try to get them on soon.

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow!

We are praising God today! He has answered so many of our prayers the last few days, as He always does. As many of you know, we (like many families) have been battling illnesses this winter. Well, the very feared stomach flu hit Autumn last Wednesday. She spent a couple of days in the hospital and then came home Friday night. Saturday, she was still very sick. We decided to call the doctor on call and did exactly what he told us to do. Sunday, we had to wake her up. When we did, she was having trouble standing steady and was very clingy/lethargic. She didn't seem to be dehydrated, so we didn't know what could be wrong or what we should do. We cried out to God for some wisdom. We decided that we were supposed to call Ann Arbor. The kidney doctor told us to slowly give her some diluted formula with her medicine in it because she was probably low on some much needed medicine. He said if she didn't turn around by 6:00, she needed to go back to the ER. We did what he said and didn't see improvement until about 5:30, and then there was only a little perkiness in this little spitfire of a girl. All the while, prayers were lifted for her. At 7:00, Autumn crawled down the stairs on her own, played independently and even danced to the Hannah Montana song. PRAISE GOD! Only He is capable of turn-arounds like that!

I also was praying that God would spare the rest of us from having this horrible stomach virus. He answered that in our household, at least. (He must have known how spent I was after not sleeping for 2 days.) Unfortunately, Grandma Hess did have to endure the bug. We prayed fervently for her healing, and she has recovered!

God has also restored my health, as I was fighting a yucky sinus thing before our hospital stay, during the hospital stay and into Saturday. Miraculously Sunday it was all gone! Praise His name!

Autumn also acquired a sweet little friend in the hospital. This little red headed beauty was named Allison, which was easy for Autumn to say (hmmm, I wonder why). They both had the stomach flu and underlying issues, so it didn't hurt them to play together. They enjoyed each other so much. It was really nice to be able to get to know her parents. This helped the time pass by.

PRAISE GOD FOR ALL HIS BLESSINGS AND ANSWERS TO PRAYER! Thanks for praying with us. We too pray for your families.

A Rockin' Saturday

A couple of Saturdays ago, Jayna and Aaron went shopping in the morning. They came home with "Dance Dance Revolution" and "Guitar Hero" for the Wii. Here are a couple photos of them rocking out. Autumn even gets into the dancing. It is a super fun way to hang out as a family.

Who's got the best rhythm here?
Auti and Jayna are super dancers.
This is Aaron's favorite. He's really good at it too. It is fun to watch him.

After all this, Jayna and I had a very special evening together. Watch the video to see what we did. (The "hair" also came from Daddy/Daughter shopping time.)