WE HAVE 5 KIDS

WE ARE HAVING A BABY

Oh my goodness....how God has blessed Jeremy and I so greatly!

Out of all of the wombs in the world, Jesus picked MINE for this special little soul.....He picked ME to be this child's mother.....and I am so overwhelmed with humility, as I am so undeserving.

My Dear Lord Jesus, You are so wonderful to bless me and trust me to have picked me, once again to be a mother......Please guide me to be the mommy that you have envisioned for this new little life, as well as for the precious lives of our other 4 children.

This is not our little one, as our little one is safe in my tummy, but this is a picture of a baby that is the same age as our little one
(7-8 weeks Gestation)

This is a pic of my "baby test"  Yay....I passed!
This is how Jesus announced to Jeremy and I that we were so very blessed with another sweet baby

Dear Sweet Little Baby in my womb,

You are my child and I love you dearly.  You are absolutely and completely precious to Daddy and I.  We have prayed for you so much!

We are already in love with you and we haven't even seen your precious face, nor have I been so blessed enough as to have felt your tender little body moving within me.....those things just do not matter, as we loved you before we even knew about you and we love you today and will love you forever!

We are praying for you each day that you will continue to grow and to thrive inside of me.  I will do all that I can to keep you safe and warm.  Madison, Savannah, Nicholas, and Isaac are over the moon excited to have you in our family!  What a wonderful gift you are to us and you will be, to this entire world!

 This is how we announced the blessing of our 5th baby to the kids!  Isaac got to tell them without even realizing the important news that he was sharing

(Continued letter to our new baby)

Daddy and I will go to see the doctor next Wednesday and we are praying to finally see our newest "little bean" and to see your tiny precious heart beating strong within me.

God, You never cease to amaze me.....I know that I always say that, but I mean it EVERY time!  I surrender myself (my body and my soul) to You in all things!  You can NEVER ask me for too much Lord, as if I am not honoring Your desires, Jesus, my life has no meaning.  I will follow You, my Dear Lord with confidence and faith, and without fear, because it is Your strength and not mine that will carry me through...Today, tomorrow, and always.  Please help me to Glorify You above all, in this special mission, as well as in all aspects of my life!

"Where I Belong"
By: Building 429

Sometimes I feel like I'm watching, from the outside
Sometimes I feel like I'm breathing, but am I alive
I won't keep searching for answers, that aren't here to find

All I know is I'm not home, yet

This is not where I belong

Take this world and give me Jesus

This is not where I belong

So when the walls come falling down on me
 and when I 'm lost in the current, of a raging sea
I have this blessed assurance, holding me

 When the earth shakes, I wanna be found in You
When the lights fade, I wanna be found in You

All I know is I'm not home, yet

This is not where I belong

Take this world and give me Jesus

This is not where I belong

(Nicholas, Isaac, Madison, Little Bean, and Savannah)

Isaac is going to be a GREAT big brother....we just know it!

Thank you Lord Jesus Christ,  for blessing us so abundantly, beyond our understanding!  You are working in our lives and for that, Jeremy and I will be forever grateful!

No matter what you choose for us, Lord, we will always follow You...Without question
As long as You want
As far as You want
The way that You want
Forever and Ever and Ever
Amen

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL AT FAUSTINA ACADEMY

 Look at my little ones.....They are NOT very little anymore!

Madison, Savannah, and Nicholas.....

I miss you terribly already and you haven't even finished your first day, yet....counting down the hours until Isaac and I leave to pick you up.  I love you and I am so thankful for you....I would say that I am proud of you, but honestly, Jesus made you amazing....it had nothing to do with me, so I am not feeling pride, but feeling extremely grateful that I get to be your mommy

(Madison-10th grade, Savannah-7th grade, Nicholas-5th grade)

FAUSTINA ACADEMY HAD A FUN WELCOME SIDEWALK SIGN

WE LOVE OUR SCHOOL

 Mrs Mehaffey....Our faith-filled principal

She prayerfully follows our Lord with all of her heart and she is why Faustina Academy is so Christ Centered!  This school is leading so many precious little souls to Christ! Mrs Mehaffey is truly our Lord's Delight

 The Divine Mercy Garden at Faustina Academy

(An amazing family from our school, devoted endless hours planning and physically constructing this amazing space....Thank you to the Armato Family.  We are blessed to call you our friends)

What a beautiful and serene place to meditate on our Precious Jesus's Love and Mercy for us

Yes...Isaac was there too!  I wanted to get this pic of his precious smiling face as we drove home from taking the kids to there first day of school

Thank you, Lord for this blessed day.....Please protect my little ones as they journey into a new school year

NICHOLAS'S SPECIAL GIFT FOR ME

BOYS WORK WEEKEND IN KANSAS

Jeremy took Nicholas with him this weekend to work at their hunting Lease.  Nicholas is such a hard worker, who never tires or complains......just like his daddy.  And through their father/son times together, Nicholas will learn how to be a strong and Godly man someday just like his daddy.

While Nicholas was there, he was looking for something to bring home for me and the girls.  He found these really cool nutshells on the ground that were the shape of a heart on the inside.  He presented each of his sisters with the beautiful gift that he had found and they were very pleased.

After that, he handed me mine with a smile on his face

"This one is for you, mom"

"Oh Nicholas, thank you"  "This is so beautiful and even more special because you found something that God made naturally into the shape of a heart"

I then, kissed and hugged him and the girls walked out of the room.

"Mom", he said...."Look at my shell....don't tell the girls, but my shell and your shell were the only 2 shells that fit perfectly together"

And then he took his sweet little fingers, with "lease dirt" still under his fingernails and showed me how they fit together perfectly to make one.

Thank you Nicholas for a gift that truly melted my heart!  I love you so much and I love how Jesus blessed you with such a thoughtful heart, that you searched special, to find something that even went beyond the beauty of the original gift.  I love how our hearts fit perfectly together!

Thank you for loving me so much

SUMMERTIME FUN 2015

SOME PICTURES FROM OUR AMAZING SUMMER

Lots of new experiences for little our man being already a year older

Here is the TGS trailer.....The Troops of St. George gearing up for another amazing year, bringing fathers and sons to Christ as they grow together in faith while learning survival skills that will aide them in the future.  

God so beautifully made boys to grow into men....and who better to guide them, than our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, through their fathers!

 Savannah is on the Faustina JV Volleyball team.....This was a super fun volleyball practice and swim party with her team

 Savannah loves her girlfriends and what a great group of sweet girls, they are

Summertime naps with his bottom in the air.....I would love to be able to fall asleep like this!

 My Lord NEVER ceases to TOTALLY  amaze me!  Look at this butterfly....I sit and ponder these gorgeous creatures both great and small and then smile as I anticipate how much more beautiful Heaven will be!!

 Enjoying Popeyes Chicken for the first time....He loves it just like his siblings.....okay, and his mom!

 The kids hanging out with me.....they are so entertaining and gracious to their mommy

 Isaac always wants to make us laugh and most of the time we are totally cracking up at him....he is a funny little man and Madison knows just what to give him to play with.

BLOCK PARTY
Nothing says summer like and "Block Party"  Our great neighbors, the Clarks, planned a super fun block party for all of us to enjoy

Me and my sweet neighbor Jennifer at the block party.  We have become great friends and I am so happy to have her in my life!  It is like we have known each other forever!  Our Lord Jesus continues to bless me so abundantly....I am very undeserving of all of the amazing moms He has put in my path!

  Isaac at the Block party with his new friend, Sarah from across the street.  She had a "sweet ride"

Isaac just HAD to try it out.  Even though it was pink.  Sarah was so kind to share

The daddies at the block party cleaning up the busted water balloons (only daddies would use power tools to clean up after a party.....in this case they used leaf blowers)

We had a "block party water balloon war"  It was super fun!  We are so blessed to have such nice neighbors!

Isaac was getting a little bit tired after a lot of partying.....but Madison was there to keep him happy a little longer

 Daddy's new office during the building process....we are so excited about it! More pics of this project coming soon

We bought Isaac a "water table" to play with, but realized that it was WAY too messy for the kitchen and Isaac was SOAKING wet, so..........

 So we moved it outside and took Isaac's wet clothes off.  It was a show for all to see!  He was so funny!  It kept him happy all evening!

 There is just something about boys and lawn equipment.....

Look at how pleased he is.....he has no idea how cute he is, but how embarrassed he will be when we pull these photos out, in a few years from now.

FIRST POPSICLE.......LOVED IT.....BUT, IT WAS ALL OVER HIM, FROM HEAD TO TOE

Sweet brother Nicholas generously offered to put his bathing suit on and help dry off our very sticky and wet baby......These boys are total sweeties!

THERE ARE TONS MORE PICS TO SHARE BUT NOT ENOUGH TIME TO POST THEM

WHAT A BLESSED SUMMER WE HAD TOGETHER

THE BEAUTIFUL BODY OF CHRIST

I SAW THIS ON FACEBOOK

A wonderful St. Elizabeth Ann Seton religion teacher, who Madison had the privilege of being taught by was Mrs. Roarick

She started a prayer wall in her classroom, that she kept up and going from year and year.  She was so wise as to show her students that prayers are ALL answered in one way or another.  Madison remembers adding intentions to the prayer wall, written carefully on paper "bricks" to then be displayed on the walls in Mrs. Roarick's room, Madison said that she always remembers scanning the prayers that were already put on the wall by past students....some from years ago.

This was always an activity that she and the other students really looked forward to.  Well, school was just starting and Mrs. Roarick posted a pic of her classroom prayer wall on Facebook to share her idea with others

My friend Megan was starting a new job at our school as a 6th grade teacher and so when I saw this post, I thought of Megan and wanted to share with idea with her.  Mrs. Roarick's page was private so I ended up having to take to save photos to my computer and then passing them onto Megan in a text.

These walls are filled with all different children's prayers......and I wanted to give Megan the general idea of what Mrs R did.

I have to remind myself that when Madison attended school here, my sickness was still my very private and beautiful cross, that I only shared with my Lord Jesus....Also, we had decided to homeschool the kids when they were at St. Elizabeth's, so our family had been gone from this school for a number of years....

BUT JESUS WORKS THROUGH OTHERS EACH AND EVERY DAY, EVEN WHEN WE ARE NOT AWARE OF IT

AND just because God is THAT amazing (of course) and always reminding me of how much I am loved and always thought of by Him, look at this pic that Mrs. Roarick posted....

YES....if you are wondering, if you look closely, that IS IN FACT "Mrs. Lustig" written on one of the prayer bricks on the far left.

Wow, talk about a powerful moment that I shared with tears streaming down my cheeks, as I felt Christ very near!  Gratitude overwhelms me every time I think about it!  There were innocent and sweet little souls lifting me up in prayer as I laid sick with little strength of my own. I KNEW without a doubt that the prayers of all of our family, friends, community and even those souls praying for me from a long distance away, were what saved me and kept me alive so that I could still be a wife, mommy, daughter, friend, and child of God a little bit longer.  This was such an undeserved reminder of the true and charitable love of the Body of Christ!

Thank you Jesus for allowing me to see this today.  You are wonderful and beautiful and mighty and merciful!

CONVERSATION IN BED TONIGHT

CONVERSATION BETWEEN JEREMY AND I

Jeremy

"Ker...Did you eat something in our bed earlier today?"

Me

(giving a puzzled look) "No"

Jeremy

"Weird....I think I feel crumbs in the bed!"

Me

"Hm"

Jeremy

(talking to himself) "Why is this remote not responding?" "It's totally out of wack!"

Me

"What?"

Jeremy

(a bit frustrated) "Oh, nothing....it's just like I can't win tonight!"

THE FOLLOWING (INCRIMINATING) PICS WERE TAKEN EARLIER IN THE EVENING

Mommy was not feeling well and just too tired tonight to manage Isaac, so mommy MIGHT have allowed him to break some rules.....It has been a long day, indeed!

Cookies in bed and a remote control......It made both Isaac and mommy smile until it was finally bedtime!

I love you little Isaac