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!

Dinner and a Show

Last night, just as we were setting the table for dinner, Josiah noticed some movement in the woods linning our property. We were delighted to discover a familiy of 8 deer cruising through the yard.
It was fun to watch them becuase, while they are usually just passing through, this time they stayed and frolicked a while. They were actually playing with each other, eating, doing their "buisiness" (if you know what I mean). Well, dinner was getting cold when they finally moved on, but the thrill of wildlife in the backyard never get old.

Man of the House

Earlier this week, David had to travel to New York on business for a few days. While he was gone, Josiah decided that he needed to be the "Man of the House" since Dad was gone. So my little 9 and 1/2 year old boy tried to think of all the important things that Dad does so he could fill his shoes. He sat at the head of the table and blessed the food at dinner time.
After dinner, David always blesses me by washing the dishes. So Josiah enthusiastically jumped in and attempted to do the job in Dad's place. I pitched in a little more than usual but it was a joy to work along side my son. Siri tried to help to... She kept picking at the left over plate of chicken. Then she said that she was still eating because that is what Dad does while he is cleaning up.
Josiah also pitched in taking out the trash and being generally supportive. He even dressed up as a Knight and said that he would protect me. I told him that the greatest thing that his Dad does as the Man of the House is to pray for his family so Josiah tried to fill those shoes as well. I am usually not thrilled about David being gone but my son's desire to step up and be a man like his Father made this trip all worth it.

Colder than Siberia

This weekend we are experiencing some severe winter weather. On the news last night they compared the Minnesota forecast with that of Siberia... And you guessed it, we are colder here.

When we woke up this morning the temperature outside was 19 degrees below zero and the wind chill factor or what they call the "feels like" temps were 30 degrees below zero. After taking the dogs out this morning at 6:00am, David declared that it was the coldest he has ever been. When I took them out at noon it was still painfully cold and after dinner, Jake (our beagle we brought from Hawaii) flat out refused to go outside. We actually checked his feet for frost bite which can be common on the dog's paws. We have come to appreciate the meteorologist here. They work hard and are very educational. I guess when we have weather that you can die in, it is good to understand what you are dealing with. Personally, I think it is unnatural for humans to live in these conditions. If God had intended it He would have given us FUR! I guess I better stop complaining though, as I am still hoping some of our friends might someday decide to visit us for a winter Holiday. But right about now, a Hawaiian Holiday sounds pretty wonderful.

Squiggly Poop

This Post is not for the Squeamish.

This week, My children have, one by one, succumbed to the Stomach Flu.
Jonah got it Sunday, then Josiah and now Siri. She woke me up at 4:00am this morning and threw up several times. This morning she seems to be doing a little better but still reached for the bowl on occasion just in case. Listen in to a conversation we had a few minutes ago.... While holding the bowl and waiting.....

Siri: Mom, I think maybe it is going to come out the other end instead.

Mom: Yeah, sometimes that happens. You might have squiggly poop. (this is what my kids call the runs)

Siri: The only thing I like about squiggly poop is that it's better than throw up and easy to get out. But I like the hard kind better... But not the stuck kind, just the regular kind.

Both: giggles.....

Mom: I think you might be feeling a little better.

Siri: Maybe I just needed to Fart!

Minnesota Wild Rice Soup

When we arrived in Minnesota a year and a half ago, we received a welcome gift basket with some MN wild rice. Since then we have received several bags of wild rice as gifts. We knew that Minnesota was known for their wild rice soup and even sampled a few versions of it at various restaurants. So after receiving yet another bag of the rice in a Christmas gift basket I decided it was time to learn how to make this famous soup. I went searching on the Internet and settled on the recipe found at http://www.recipezaar.com/183736 I made it using chicken that I had made last week and homemade Chicken broth. Well, I am happy to report that it was beautiful and delicious. My husband exclaimed that it was the best Chicken Soup I had ever made. We had it with some sour dough bread from Diamond City Bakery and it turned out to be the perfect soup for a cold Minnesota winter. So thanks to all of you who have supplied me with bags of rice which gently nudged me towards this wonderful culinary experience.

Sleep Over

Yesterday, Gisele, her daughter Alex, and her Grandson, Elijah came for a sleep over. It was so much fun hanging out with them. We stayed up late and at and talked and watched Evan Almighty... Great movie, by the way! This morning we all went outside to go sledding. It was so fun to watch them have so much fun. They went zooming down out hills cracking up and then climb up to do it again and again.
Elijah loved it and it was so neat to see Gisele with her beloved grandson. My kids love to play with him so it was a nice visit for all.
Our dog, Jake got out and ran away so in between all the laughs we were out calling for him. He eventually came home, much to Josiah's relief and we all came in to warm up and have lunch. They are heading back to Honolulu tomorrow so we were so blessed to have them here and are hoping for a longer stay next time,

Happy New Paint

Happy New Year!
This is how we spent our New Year, with some new paint. We decided to paint our living room with "Cinnamon Spice" and "Pumpkin Butter".

David and I started on New Years Eve and the kids joined in the next day.
Siri, was especially excited to help out... I think it must be all the HGTV she watches with mommy. She even got out the video camera to film and narrate the process.

Jonah mostly enjoyed playing with the drop cloths. ..... And here is the finished product. We were quite pleased with the way it turned out.
It now feels like we are sitting in Starbucks drinking a Pumpkin Latte.

Last Day

Today is Micah's last day with us. His flight leaves tomorrow morning to take him back to California. So we went out to Perkins for a farewell lunch
We all had such a fun, silly time eating and taking pictures.
The food was yummy too.

Jonah was happy to be getting out of the house again after his rather severe case of Chicken Pox.Next we decided to take Micah for a walk across a frozen lake... a new experience for him. We went to Lake Orono but didn't make it all the was across. It was cold and snowing and he was slightly freaked out by the whole Idea.So we came home and the kids watched a movie and then went out sledding in the yard until it got dark. It was a fun last day and they all went to bed a little sad and a little happy.