Coyotes

Let me start by saying that the pictures will not do justice to the excitement of this event. Tonight while having an evening snack, we heard the dogs barking as if something were in the front yard. David got up to check and saw two coyotes walking across the driveway. They were headed towards the side of the house. David ran into the kitchen yelling something about "Coyotes". We all ran to the window.
And sure enough, there were two coyotes in our yard. They were not in a hurry but cruised around sniffing for about 10 minutes before trotting off to the cover of the trees.
I know that it is a little hard to see, but there is one of them slightly to the left of the center of the picture. We spent the next 20 minutes on the Internet. First to confirm that they were really coyotes and then finding out everything we could about them. It was so fun.... like science class in real life.

Snowing again.....

Attachment Parenting ~ Kitty Style

Siri is really enjoying her new kitten. Mia is really fun for everyone to play with but she is deffinately attached to Siri. I had made Siri this sling for her to carry her dolls. It turned out to be the percect size for Mia and she loves to ride in it.... but only with Siri.
She even sleeps with her...
Here is Siri doing her math school work.... And of course, there is Mia snuggled up in her sling.
Don't worry though. between the dogs and the boys, she gets all the exersize a little cat needs.

Mommy's Helper

A couple of weeks ago, I fell and sprained my knee. I was completely out of commission for a few days and then on crutches for a week. I really could not do much in the way of house work so the whole family had to pitch in. My sweet Siri was an awesome helper. I would give her instructions and she would carry them out the best she could. Here she is doing my laundry.
Helping to clean up after dinner....
And serving mommy with a glad and sincere heart. Josiah helped out lots too.... with all the enthusiasm a 9 year old boy could muster. They both blessed me so much and continue to help me as I am still hobbling around the house. I honestly don't know what I would have done without the help of my kids and I am so thankful to have them around everyday.

First Day of Spring

Here is the view outside our window on this first day of Spring! So I thought I would take this occasion to share with you a Minnesota Winter Poem.... Since winter seems to be sticking around... for now.

It's winter in Minnesota

And the gentle breezes blow

Seventy miles an hour

At twenty-five below.

Oh, how I love Minnesota

When the snow's up to your butt

You take a breath of winter

And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful

So I guess I'll hang around

I could never leave Minnesota

'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!!

Four-Eyes

Don't worry, there is no teasing going on around here! In fact, we all wish we could have some too. Today, Josiah got his new reading glasses. We had his vision tested and it turns out he is going to need some Vision Therapy. But for starters, they prescribed reading glasses.
Dad went this morning to pick them up and Josiah was quite excited. He is convinced that they will make reading and school much easier.
So he wore them today while we did school and so far the report is positive. If nothing else, It has made him more excited to read and certain that he is just a little smarter now.

What happened to Spring?

With the official start of Spring just a few days away, Winter decided to roll up her sleeves and give one more good punch.

We woke up this morning to several inches of fresh snow and my Hero of a husband got up shortly after 5am to clear the long driveway. We all find ourselves lamenting the loss of the sun but we also can't help but marvel at the beautiful snow covered forest. We have the comfort of knowing that Winter will eventually lose her grip and that Spring will arrive the victor. The season's will continue moving forward... each one with new wisdom to impart as we journey Heavenward.

A Little SPRING in Our Step

We are excited to report that Spring is near. The biting cold is gone and, though the ground is still covered with slushy snow, we were able to clear a path to the thawed trampoline.
The kids are so excited to get outside and jump around. Jonah is especially thrilled. Jumping may, quite possibly, be his favorite activity and we are looking forward to the months ahead with lots of sunny, jumping days.

Broccoli

The other night we had broccoli with dinner. It is one of mom's favorites.... But the kids are not big fans of it. Siri doesn't mind it too much and Josiah will eat what he is told even though he would rather not.... but Jonah is a different story. He absolutely will not eat fresh fruit or veggies and pulling the obedience cord just doesn't work with him. But now he has a favorite video of Daniel and the Lions Den in which the Angel turns the lions into Vegetarians. They sing a catchy little song about how they want to eat broccoli and asparagus and so on.
So I put a piece of broccoli on Jonah's plate and much to all of our amazement, he picked it up and took a bite... then another... then another. We all cheered and clapped. I know it may not seem like a big deal in most peoples houses, but in ours, it was reason to celebrate... and we did with some yummy home made Ice Cream for dessert!

A Birthday Surprise

Our beautiful little girl is turning 8 on Saturday. So in celebration of this special day we decided to get her a special gift... a Kitty of her very own! But as I soon learned, there is a shortage of kittens this time of year and her Daddy had to make a 5 1/2 hour round trip drive to a shelter in the small town of Fairfax, MN to find this sweet little 10 week old bundle of fluffy joy.

Our Kids knew nothing about our surprise, in fact Sara had been asking for a Kitten and we kept telling her "no, not yet". So the shock and awe was spectacular. We put her in a box and, after securing the dogs in the laundry room, brought it in to Sara's room for her to open.
The rest of the day was spent playing with our new friend.Sara has decided to call her "Mia". Next came the task of introducing her to the dogs.....As you can see we are making lots of progress!

Jonah Without Autism

Today, the kids were feeling much better. Sara~Ashley spent most of the day coloring pictures. She is getting really good at it and she enjoys it so much. She drew a really fun picture of all the kids outside sledding

There is Josiah, Siri & Jonah as well as their friends Joshua and Hannah.

My favorite part was when she was describing everyone and she pointed to this part and said "This is Jonah without autism. See how he is playing with us." What an exciting thought. We are praying that this will, someday be a reality. We love our little Jonah so much just the way he is but we are also looking forward to who he will be when God heals him and reveals all he is inside that we don't yet see. When you think of him, would you say a prayer with us for God's best in his life and for wisdom to guide him into all that he is destined to be.

Mama Said There'd be Days Like This

Monroy's are up to bat.

Respiratory Influenza in the outfield.

Here comes the first pitch.......

STRIKE ONE!
STRIKE TWO!!
STRIKE THREE!!!YOU ARE OUTTA THERE!!!!

In the meantime, Mom is busier than a one-legged woman in a butt-kicking contest..... At the moment, Minnesota Winter is kicking our butts!

I Am From

I found this poem on some one elses blog about childhood memories along with the form so that you could write your own. I enjoyed hers so much that I decided to do my own. It was really easy and fun to do. So here is mine. Enjoy it and then go write your own. (I want my parents to do one so we can save it for our kids... Ok Mom)

I Am From

I am from big yellow station wagons with no seatbelts, from banana seat bikes and big hair and bell bottoms.

I am from the house on the corner with the swimming pool and diving board and the smell of horses.

I am from giant Willow trees that sway in the wind and fishing at Spring Lake in the early morning fog.

I am from Family dinners every night and listening to phone calls in Spanish on Sundays, from Albert and Johnda and Sara and Louis and Johanna and Marco and a Frenchman somewhere.

I am from secret meetings at dawn in the café by the river and afternoons spent down at the creek with tadpoles and rope swings.

From “Yes, you have to eat all your Butternut squash” and “Don’t you ma’am me, I’m your mother.”

I am from Church in a gym or a cafeteria or a park with lots of room for dancing. From laughter and tears and big families with big voices. From no lock on the doors and no keys to be found.

I am from a cabin in the woods and Mexico and Spain and Germany and a wood pile somewhere. From brown rice and chocolate cookies and hoagies on birthdays.

From summers in Yosemite with the bears that ate our food and from road trips and roller coasters and picnics and parties.

I am from faded pictures of long beards and beads. From Polaroids and pencil drawings and Grandparents on the walls.

I am from a place where the hungry were fed, the thirsty were given drink and the lonely could join the family.... for a day… for a season or for the rest of your life.

Underground Church

Our Kids like to play pretend down in the basement. They have turned that space into an Orphanage, an Animal Rescue Center, a Book Store and this week they decided to make it a Church. They have been preparing for the last few days and last night asked David if we could stay home on Sunday morning so they could lead a Church service for our family. With enthusiasm like that we decided not to deny them. So this morning we headed down to the basement.

Josiah welcomed the "Congregation" and opened in prayer.
Siri was the Worship Leader. She used a CD. Josiah got up and introduced each song and then she would lead the singing. They used the story of Danniel in the Lions Den so all the songs came from a CD that told that story.
Here we are... The "Congregation". It was actually awesome the way that God used our children and their version of a Bible story to minister his truth to us. Being as that the windchill this morning was 40 below zero and the basement is the coldest spot in the house, we ended up all bundled up in the dress up clothes that the kids have stored down there. I am sure it was quite a sight with David wearing a Jedi cape as he worshiped our Lord and I had on the Knights cape. Of course I had Jonah to keep me warm too.
After the singing, Josiah read from a children's book about Daniel.

He then read from 1 John 4:18 and Epesians 6:11 and shared about how God helps us not to be afraid and about putting on all of God's armor so we can stand against the Devil's plans. Then he closed us in Prayer. It was so neat to see our Son leading our family in worship and prayer.

I want to share that part of what inspired them to this end was a video series that my Mom bought for the Kids. It is called LIKEN the Scriptures. Here is the link for their website.. http://www.likenthescriptures.com/ They are theatrical, musical versions of the Bible stories. My kids love them! They are really well done and it is refreshing to see it done for children with live actors instead of animated. The music is wonderful too. Josiah is already plannng to preach on David and Goliath next week. I highly recomend them the next time you are in the markent for Bible Story DVDs.

Birthday

(The spell check isn't working and I can't get the pictures where I want them but I am just going to publish this post anyway so I can go to bed.)

Today was my Birthday! I am 38 years old. In all fairness to my husband I figured I better put some old embarassing pictures of myself up on the blog. If you don't know of what I speak, please see this post. So here are a few I came up with.... Enjoy

Here is me at about 2 years old visiting my grandma in Kentucky.

Next Is my amazing mom with her 5 kids in a convertable... yes we all really drove around it that.

Me at about 14 years old with my mom.

Traveling in Japan at about 23 years old.

Here is me while I was pregnant with Siri... and can you believe that I still had another month to go. Good thing my little Josiah was so light. Oh, now this is a good one. Here is Samantha and I about 7 years ago after I talked her into us getting our hair cut really short. As you can see it looked nothing like the magazine picture we were hoping for. After shedding a few tears and a few laughs.... I found out I was pregnant and gained 50 lbs. That was the year that God was dealing with my vanity!

Lets fast forward to today. A few of my friends took me out for a lovely Afternoon Tea at the Mad Hatter Tea Room in Anoka. (Hats are provided but not required)

Sara, Lisa and Deanna joined me and we had a wonderful time.
They made me feel so special and loved... And we just sat and talked for hours.

Then it was home to my waiting children with Birthday signs and cards and presents. It was so exciting.
They always get me the funniest cards and the most thoughtful presents.
Here we are laughing at the card from Jonah and David. It was one of those musical ones that sing when you open it. This one belted out the song "I Will Survive".

I got an expresso maker so I can make my own Lattes. I also got a Coffee gift card and a cirtificate for a Spa Pecicure along with some thoughtfull gifts from Friends and Family.
We went to Applebees for dinner so I wouldn't have to cook. It was a fun and relaxing day. I just LOVE Birthdays!