famtastic

adam was so sweet today in making sure that i didn't have to do anything...it being mothers day and all...including making the bed this morning. (i really do have to have the bed made every day)
he ordered out for lunch, and then volunteered to try and get a few family pictures together.

i have a cordless remote for the camera, and it works where it gives you 2 seconds to prepare.
ya.
kind of fast, don't you think?
here was our first try

pretty good, huh?

we managed to figure it out. and even got a couple of good ones.

a few of me and my love

and a couple of me and my crazy, wonderful little boys

did i say little boys? i meant one little boy, and one big boy!

i had to check to see how the camera was set up before everyone was outside...
i kind of feel like a 12-year-old even posting it, but...

there i am.

then the boys thought it would be fun to both get on adam at the same time...

you can see it worked out well..

i love seeing them laugh together..
and i love laughing too

it was a happy mother's day!

one lucky auntie

i love being an auntie.
absolutely love it.

i just so happen to be the very lucky auntie of EIGHT nephews
and SIX nieces!

i love walking around with my camera whenever i am with them.

(i was so disappointed for many reasons, that we weren't able to make our annual trip to florida this year! we have done it for several years in a row. but...putting 3,000.00 into a transmission kind of made the plane tickets an impossibility! i was so looking forward to taking pictures of 2 of my nieces and one of my nephews! - sorry sarah :(  )

when melanie comes to visit, i loved holding and playing with cal as much as possible!
and he is so darn cute!

oh callen!
another little light of my life!
your auntie loves you so much!

aj's birthday celebration part 2

finally updating the rest of aj's birthday!
aj invited a few of his friends, and of course aiyah, uncle chad, cal, nanny and grampops to the celebration!

i guess only the middle three got the memo about the silly faces!

they had a great time playing pool, foosball and basketball!

coffee and a blackberry...guess who??

and due to the fact that my back is killing me, and sitting makes it worse -
i will end here without trying to think of anything else creative to say.

just some crazy food for thought...

i am aware that my way of thinking is different than some. 

some of the things you are about to read, may lead you to ask yourself...WHAT did she just say?

and you may also then think...yep. i thought she was psycho, but now i know. ha.

that being said..i just want to get you thinking.

you know, food for thought.

where along the way, did we start believing these "facts"?

you need to spend $100,000, spend 4 years of your life studying to receive an 8x10 piece of paper.

you need to borrow $250,000 to move into a wood structure.

here's the thing. 

i live my life with the Bible as my manual. like...for everything.

every. single. thing.

here's what i think some people do.

they say that they feel the same...that the Bible should be the manual.

but - what they actually do is this.

take their preconceived notions.
accept those as facts.
then fill in the gaps and all other areas with the Bible.

so..going back to my first "facts"

the Bible says that we should owe no man anything.
it also says that we have absolutely no guarantee of tomorrow.
that our lives are a vapor.

however...we then find a house that we like.
and proceed to tell a bank that we promise we will pay them
$1,566.00 (the average in NH) for the next 30 years of our life. (please refer to the point above, where i mentioned that we have no guarantee of tomorrow!!)

how can we do that?

every financial plan (including biblical ones) that i have seen starts out with the house sort of being...
assumed.
expected.
required.
the ending point.
satisfaction.

no questions asked.

so i am asking some questions.

i think that we need to receive all our financial advice from the Bible, so how do people skip over this?

where does it EVER talk about a mortgage in the Bible?
i just think it's odd that this isn't even a issue? i never even hear people debating whether or not mortgages are biblically acceptable! they just accept it!
i find it interesting to hear people say that a "owning" a house gives security.
security?

the thought that if my husband were to lose his job tomorrow, we would still have our promise to the bank that we are going to pay them every month.
that maybe i would have to leave my work at home with my children to find a job?
that actually makes me feel the opposite of secure.

please don't misread this and think that i am judging you if you own a home.
i'm totally not.
my only point would be to give you something to think about.

and also, that maybe if you are getting caught up in the idea that the end-all is owning a home...
you will reevaluate your thoughts and priorities.

maybe.
just maybe...

my house?

is big enough.

maybe.
just maybe.

my closets?

are full enough.

maybe.
just maybe.
my life?

is a little easier than i complain about it being.

maybe.
just maybe.

we have allowed america to determine what is normal.

what is expected.
and what our life is supposed to be.

i have no interest in starting a debate here, or trying to make anyone feel guilty...or angry.
even in talking with some friends about this, different things have come up.
you know, equity and a whole bunch of other "americanized" counter arguments.
i do not want to argue about it, and i am not saying that i am 100% against mortgages.
i know that sometimes it is actually cheaper to own than to rent (not in nh!!)
but i never want to get comfortable, and lazy in my way of thinking...on any issue!

i just know this.
i have been in more situations than i could even count where i was the one leaving a conversation feeling frustrated, and looked down upon because i don't own a home.
a lot of times, it has been by people who were not intending to make me feel that way.
and to be honest...sometimes - i think it was totally, intentionally mean.

either way, i just want to be careful, and i also want to warn people of the dangers of allowing your thinking to be determined by things that are just plain not true!
i admit that when we were about 2 weeks from closing on our dream house, and it fell through... i was devastated! i didn't know if i was upset that we weren't going to get it? or that i had felt maybe we would "fit in" with everyone else who had a home, and now we wouldn't.

whichever it was, i know this now...
i am thankful that it did fall through.
crazy to even type out loud! but i am so grateful for the financial freedom we have right now.
maybe we aren't the cool ones who have our own place. but i can't let other people's opinion of me change how i live, how i act and especially how i feel!
and neither should you!
don't fall into that trap!

to me...financial freedom is not working 3 jobs and extra shifts so that in 24 years, we can pay off the house and finally be debt free, and able to do what God wants me to do.

all this rambling to say.
have you thought things out that you do? - not just buying a home, but everything you do...
all the way to the core?
all the way to the root of the issue?
with nothing being the accepted to start with?
with the fact that we came into this world with NOTHING
and it is certain we can carry nothing out?!

start with nothing!
then take your Bible, and start making your standards.
your beliefs.
your decisions.

God's Word is the only thing that never changes.

aj's birthday celebration part 1

while we had so gotten used to having insta-party with all of our family living near by, things have changed.

my older sister, her husband their 7 kids are in virginia,
my brother, his wife and their little girl are in pennsylvania,
my younger sister, her husband and their little boy are in new jersey,
adam's younger sister, her husband and their 3 kids are in iowa,
his younger brother, his wife and their 2 boys are in new york,
his 2 youngest sisters and his parents are in florida.

so. that party-feel is now limited to our family of 4 and my parents.
now, don't get me wrong.
we know how to party!! haha!

but it was a real treat this year to have adam's brother and family for aj's actual birthday,
and my younger sister and family for the party.

after a pancake breakfast

we packed all four boys up and headed to the y for swimming!

adam and jimmy are the best to watch play in the water with the boys.
they are just like kids..seriously.

we hit up subway on the way home, and then opened presents.

so we finally had a birthday celebration with some cousins all up in here!
hopefully, by next year...some of them will be living here!

hey, a girl can hope can't she?