I was number 5 of 6 children. I got hand-me-downs and was the tag-along. I dreamed of being the oldest and imagined how amazing that must be. But I can see as a parent, the oldest has her share of disadvantages too.
You are my oldest. My first. I went into parenting with a lot of expectations for myself and my child. I hovered over you to make sure you wouldn't get hurt and that you were dong okay. I started teaching you to read when you were 3. I put you in ballet and gymnastics. Now that child #4 is 3 I have mellowed. I have more grace - for myself and her. I read to her and we dance in the living room. Most the time I have no idea where she is or what she is doing. Things have changed.
You, my daughter, have thrived this year. You have changed. You are no longer a child. You are not an adult, but you have ventured into somewhere in between.
You have your own room and you love the privacy and freedom you have downstairs. You have started doing daily devotions on your own, without me even suggesting it! I am amazed. You like to have serious talks, especially at night when you should be in bed. You are responsible and trustworthy. You treat me with respect and love. I am thankful for you and simply adore who you are.
This was a big year in your faith journey. In January a team called Revive Indiana came from Texas and rocked our world. They taught us to love people boldly. For 52 days we gathered and prayed, ate, went out on teams to share Jesus, came back together to share and eat, then we would get up the next day and do it again. It was exhausting and amazing. I watched you grow in leaps and bounds. You got to participate in your first communion. You went out on teams and prayed with people. You especially loved when we would let you go out on teams with other adults. You were a leader in Revive Kids and even asked Ms. Michelle if you could share your testimony with all the kids. On August 23, 2015 you were baptized in Grandpa Shetler's pond. I am so proud of the lady you are becoming.
It has been a sad year in some respects as well. Both of our best friends are moving away at the end of the year and it has been hard adjusting to that idea. Carmen and Liz will be moving to Texas and Jennifer and Lucy are moving to Peru. We have cried together and prayed together numerous times these past few months about it. I have encouraged you to trust God through this. And as I say the words to you, I try to believe them for myself as well.
You are into a lot of things these days. While you still occasionally play barbies and dolls with your sisters, you mostly like to use your imagination and make up games. You play orphans and poor people and whatever book we happen to be reading. You love to draw and paint and create. You are bright and brilliant.
While I silently grieve the stage you are leaving behind, I want to loudly applaud as you step out in all that lays before you. I have no doubt my darling almost 9 year old, that one day you will fly.
I love you so much my Haddee girl!
**Written in Nov. 2015
Friday, April 15, 2016
Baptism and Stuff
My sweet kids are growing up. There have been some pretty special milestones lately that I wanted to write down.
Haddee got baptized on August 23, 2015 at my parent's pond. It was a wonderful day.
Eva was just baptized on March 27, 2016 on Easter Sunday at church.
That same day Justus told me he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart and just a couple of days later, on March 31, Justus asked me and Scott to come talk to him privately in his room. He told us of his desire to ask Jesus into his heart and he prayed thanking God for always being in his heart and told him of his desire to follow him. It was beautiful. Then he asked if he would be allowed to participate in communion at church now. Man I love that kid.
Chara LOVES to pray. She prays at every meal, even if someone else prays too. She starts every sentence with "Thank you Jesus that you..." and ends every prayer with "And thank you for Jesus. Amen." She prays for things like Mommy's back to feel better, for Liam to come over, for her to grow bigger so she can sit in the front seat, for staying the night at Grandma's house, for providing for us. It is so sweet.
I am so privileged to be a mom to these 4 amazing kiddos. May they always follow hard after the Lord.
Haddee got baptized on August 23, 2015 at my parent's pond. It was a wonderful day.
Eva was just baptized on March 27, 2016 on Easter Sunday at church.
That same day Justus told me he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart and just a couple of days later, on March 31, Justus asked me and Scott to come talk to him privately in his room. He told us of his desire to ask Jesus into his heart and he prayed thanking God for always being in his heart and told him of his desire to follow him. It was beautiful. Then he asked if he would be allowed to participate in communion at church now. Man I love that kid.
Chara LOVES to pray. She prays at every meal, even if someone else prays too. She starts every sentence with "Thank you Jesus that you..." and ends every prayer with "And thank you for Jesus. Amen." She prays for things like Mommy's back to feel better, for Liam to come over, for her to grow bigger so she can sit in the front seat, for staying the night at Grandma's house, for providing for us. It is so sweet.
I am so privileged to be a mom to these 4 amazing kiddos. May they always follow hard after the Lord.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Wow. Just Wow.
It has been over 20 months since my last post. This blog is meant to share with my children one day as a journal of sorts of their younger days. How do I get back those 20 months I haven't blogged? I can't. And that is sad.
A lot has stayed the same since March, 2013. I am still a stay-at-home mom to four amazing kids. Scott is still working at the church. I still home school and love the Cubs and IU basketball. God is still my first love, the driving force behind all I do, and brings unexplainable peace and joy.
But so much can change, especially in little people, in 20 months. There is no way I can catch up, so I'm not even gonna try.
This is where we are at today.
My Wild Child
Oh my. This girl brings pure joy to our lives. She thinks life is a game. She laughs and screams and dances and walks around with her eyes closed just for the pure excitement of it. She runs when I say "come" just so I will chase her. She goes limp when I try to dress her. She changes the words to songs to make everyone laugh. She sneaks stuff all the time. She sneaks toys in her bed and hides them under her pillow. She sneaks treats and eats them under the table. She gets into her older siblings stuff and smears Vaseline everywhere, every chance she gets. And did I mention that she laughs? All the time?
Her beautiful blue eyes are always filled with anticipation of the next great thing that might happen. Her hair is curly like her mama's. She sucks her thumb and twirls her hair and is just about the cutest thing ever.
She likes to play tea party, play dough, Barbies, Polly pockets, tackle, and anything that her siblings are playing.
Since last November she has been sleeping on the bottom bunk in a room with Eva. She loves sharing a room with her sister. She climbs up in bed with her in the mornings and they cuddle. Sometimes she climbs up there during the night and I have to go in and put her back in her bed.
She is independent and content. She was my hardest to potty train because she didn't want to be told what to do. We borrowed a movie from the library called "Potty Power" that taught her she is in control and has the power to use the potty. From then on she never wore a diaper again. She is very strong. Watch out world!
She loves people and calls everyone her friend. She is especially fond of her cousins Liam and Michael right now. She cuddles and hugs and kisses with the best of them. I really could go on and on about my Chara Raine. I LOVE being her mommy!
The Boy
I thank God all the time for giving me a son! He is oh so tender but all boy. He adores his mommy and Dad is his best buddy. He favorite thing to play is "guys".
His imagination is amazing. He also plays with cars, dinosaurs, any kind of sport, and Lego. This kid of mine is solid. He is strong. He likes to keep his hair short, which kills his dad. We do all miss that curly fro.
Justus is 4 had has a lot of great days, but honestly, this has been a hard stage. He isn't quite sure how to express his anger. He does a lot of screaming, crying, and occasionally throwing of toys at his wall. There are a lot of days, for his sake, I wish I didn't have the time commitment of homeschooling the older two so I could just pour my time into this guy. He is sensitive and thrives on one on one time. He likes for people to hear his opinion and to have someone to play with. With 3 sisters in the house sometimes that is hard. Dad takes him to work from time to time just to give him a break from all the girls who like to be his mom here at home.
There really are a lot of great moments and I cherish those. He says that sweetest things to me at night. He cries when her hears a sad song. He doesn't like to watch "scary" movies. We are trusting God to get us through this stage and to bring some really great guy friends into his life.
My Bucket-Filler
Eva loves to make people happy. We call that "bucket-filling". She serves me at home often. It is common to hear her ask if there is anything she can do for me. When she gets in the zone she can clean the whole house on her own and no one can stop her. She also often compliments strangers. If we are checking out at a store, she always finds something to compliment the employee on. "I like your hair, nails, shirt, etc." One time in the Taco Bell drive thru she told a lady she liked her hair and the lady gave her free cinnamon twists. The kindness comes from deep in her heart.
But she does have a true stubborn streak. She likes to win at everything and usually thinks she is right about everything. She also does things without thinking. Last week at Kroger she opened the door where they keep the ice cream and she scraped off some of the frozen stuff on the shelf and put it in her mouth. As I started freaking out on her about how she has no idea what is in that she spit it out and found a piece of plastic. So gross. She says hurtful things without thinking and regrets it right away.
She is tender and cares a lot about what other people think about her. I enrolled her and Haddee this year at the local elementary for specials. So they each go 3 days a week for art, music, and gym. Gym is her favorite. I am told she excels with her peers. She is bright and inquisitive. She asks a lot of questions and wants to understand everything.
She is making some new friends but her best friend is still her sister Haddee. Sometimes on the weekends Haddee will invite her to come downstairs and spend the night in her bed. Eva loves that. She is into Barbies, Friends Lego, coloring, and board games. Checkers is her current favorite.
Eva has the most beautiful smile. She wears jeans every. single. day. Her favorite movie is Spy Kids and she reads chapter books like you wouldn't believe. Sometimes she finishes a book in 2 days.
My Eva lives life with passion and purpose. She is a blessing to me!
I will save my oldest for next time.
Peace out.
A lot has stayed the same since March, 2013. I am still a stay-at-home mom to four amazing kids. Scott is still working at the church. I still home school and love the Cubs and IU basketball. God is still my first love, the driving force behind all I do, and brings unexplainable peace and joy.
But so much can change, especially in little people, in 20 months. There is no way I can catch up, so I'm not even gonna try.
This is where we are at today.
My Wild Child
Oh my. This girl brings pure joy to our lives. She thinks life is a game. She laughs and screams and dances and walks around with her eyes closed just for the pure excitement of it. She runs when I say "come" just so I will chase her. She goes limp when I try to dress her. She changes the words to songs to make everyone laugh. She sneaks stuff all the time. She sneaks toys in her bed and hides them under her pillow. She sneaks treats and eats them under the table. She gets into her older siblings stuff and smears Vaseline everywhere, every chance she gets. And did I mention that she laughs? All the time?
Her beautiful blue eyes are always filled with anticipation of the next great thing that might happen. Her hair is curly like her mama's. She sucks her thumb and twirls her hair and is just about the cutest thing ever.
She likes to play tea party, play dough, Barbies, Polly pockets, tackle, and anything that her siblings are playing. Since last November she has been sleeping on the bottom bunk in a room with Eva. She loves sharing a room with her sister. She climbs up in bed with her in the mornings and they cuddle. Sometimes she climbs up there during the night and I have to go in and put her back in her bed.
She is independent and content. She was my hardest to potty train because she didn't want to be told what to do. We borrowed a movie from the library called "Potty Power" that taught her she is in control and has the power to use the potty. From then on she never wore a diaper again. She is very strong. Watch out world!
She loves people and calls everyone her friend. She is especially fond of her cousins Liam and Michael right now. She cuddles and hugs and kisses with the best of them. I really could go on and on about my Chara Raine. I LOVE being her mommy!
The Boy
I thank God all the time for giving me a son! He is oh so tender but all boy. He adores his mommy and Dad is his best buddy. He favorite thing to play is "guys". His imagination is amazing. He also plays with cars, dinosaurs, any kind of sport, and Lego. This kid of mine is solid. He is strong. He likes to keep his hair short, which kills his dad. We do all miss that curly fro.
Justus is 4 had has a lot of great days, but honestly, this has been a hard stage. He isn't quite sure how to express his anger. He does a lot of screaming, crying, and occasionally throwing of toys at his wall. There are a lot of days, for his sake, I wish I didn't have the time commitment of homeschooling the older two so I could just pour my time into this guy. He is sensitive and thrives on one on one time. He likes for people to hear his opinion and to have someone to play with. With 3 sisters in the house sometimes that is hard. Dad takes him to work from time to time just to give him a break from all the girls who like to be his mom here at home.
There really are a lot of great moments and I cherish those. He says that sweetest things to me at night. He cries when her hears a sad song. He doesn't like to watch "scary" movies. We are trusting God to get us through this stage and to bring some really great guy friends into his life.
My Bucket-Filler
Eva loves to make people happy. We call that "bucket-filling". She serves me at home often. It is common to hear her ask if there is anything she can do for me. When she gets in the zone she can clean the whole house on her own and no one can stop her. She also often compliments strangers. If we are checking out at a store, she always finds something to compliment the employee on. "I like your hair, nails, shirt, etc." One time in the Taco Bell drive thru she told a lady she liked her hair and the lady gave her free cinnamon twists. The kindness comes from deep in her heart.
But she does have a true stubborn streak. She likes to win at everything and usually thinks she is right about everything. She also does things without thinking. Last week at Kroger she opened the door where they keep the ice cream and she scraped off some of the frozen stuff on the shelf and put it in her mouth. As I started freaking out on her about how she has no idea what is in that she spit it out and found a piece of plastic. So gross. She says hurtful things without thinking and regrets it right away.
She is making some new friends but her best friend is still her sister Haddee. Sometimes on the weekends Haddee will invite her to come downstairs and spend the night in her bed. Eva loves that. She is into Barbies, Friends Lego, coloring, and board games. Checkers is her current favorite.
Eva has the most beautiful smile. She wears jeans every. single. day. Her favorite movie is Spy Kids and she reads chapter books like you wouldn't believe. Sometimes she finishes a book in 2 days.
My Eva lives life with passion and purpose. She is a blessing to me!
I will save my oldest for next time.
Peace out.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Home Schooling
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| Field trip to Bonneyville Mill |
My oldest is school age this year so in August our adventure with homeschooling began. The week before we started I decided to include my second daughter in on it too. That way when next year comes around we can do the same core curriculum. It has been going great. Everyone has their schedules that we follow and it flows. Not only does it flow, but it is fun and they are really learning. It is crazy how much I enjoy teaching again. And not only teaching, but writing lesson plans and choosing curriculum. It energizes me.
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| Experimenting with water |
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| Indianapolis Children's Museum |
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| Typical Day |
We are doing My Father's World as the core curriculum. Haddee is also doing a separate math and spelling program that Eva will start next year. I love the richness of God's word and the truths my kids are learning. I love the hands on approach it takes and the mix of structure yet freedom I feel in sticking with the planned lessons. I love that their dad can be involved with the teaching when he is home.
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| Valentine's Paintings |
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| Valentine's snack |
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| Celebrating 100 days of school with 100 snacks |
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| Spelling test |
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| Our resurrection garden |
Some days I am not sure if the choice to home school was for me or for them. I so much enjoy being together and learning together. I don't know how many years we will take this road, but I am going to enjoy each and every one of them to the fullest!
Chara's First Birthday
My baby turned one in February. It is bittersweet. The older she gets the more I want another baby, but my husband says no. And he's probably the wiser one. My heart swells with love and pride when I think of my kiddos.
Chara is filled with love, laughter, and life. She both gives and is filled with joy. She sucks her thumb and twiddles her hair. She is fearless and 
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| And yes, her brother ate most of her birthday doughnut. |
There just wasn't a date that worked for the Shetler family to celebrate - so we did a first - a Saturday morning breakfast at the Essenhaus. It may become a new birthday tradition!
She has poise and attitude and she is only 1. Her name means "joy raining down" and I feel that rain every time I am with her.
Happy birthday baby girl.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Justus turns 2
My little man celebrated his 2nd birthday yesterday. We did a Thomas theme even though he was asking for a football cake. (I made him a football cake last year) I got some fun ideas from a blog about games and ideas. I think it is safe to say Justus had a blast!
We made train tracks on the drive and sidewalk heading up to the house, had railroad crossing signs that said "Welcome to JJ's party" outise, "Refueling Station" by the food, and "Freight Drop Off" where the presents went. The food was in shoe boxes decorated like train cars.
We made 3 pinatas like James, Percy and Thomas out of oatmeal containers. We played a number of games including making a cousin train out on the tracks.
I had a friend make the cake and just frost it green. Then I decorated it using licorice for the tracks and jelly beans to add color and be like rock piles. We had little Thomas figures already that he plays with so I put them on the tracks. I think it turned out pretty good.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Oh Happy Day
Today was one of those days I never want to forget. My 5 year old came to me and asked me when she became a Christian. I knew she thinks Jesus is already in her heart, but there has never been a specific time that she has "invited" Him in. I didn't really know how to answer her, but I told her there wasn't really a date and asked if she wanted to make it today. Without hesitation she said yes.
So we knelt down on her bedroom floor and she prayed, "Jesus, I know you have been in my heart since I was one, but will you continue to work in my heart?"
She has such a tender spirit. She feels things deeply. She gets hurt easily and remembers everything. She loves people and gives all that she has. I have no doubt she senses God and has for as long as she can remember. She understands more than she gets credit for. She has pure, innocent faith. The faith of a child.
I am so proud of you Haddee, and I promise to do my best to point you to Jesus for the rest of my life. And I pray too that He will continue to work in your heart. I'm so happy to be your mommy!
So we knelt down on her bedroom floor and she prayed, "Jesus, I know you have been in my heart since I was one, but will you continue to work in my heart?"
She has such a tender spirit. She feels things deeply. She gets hurt easily and remembers everything. She loves people and gives all that she has. I have no doubt she senses God and has for as long as she can remember. She understands more than she gets credit for. She has pure, innocent faith. The faith of a child.
I am so proud of you Haddee, and I promise to do my best to point you to Jesus for the rest of my life. And I pray too that He will continue to work in your heart. I'm so happy to be your mommy!
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