AHHH, Addie!!

Up until this point in Addie's life she's been super easy. She doesn't really get into things or make big messes, she naps often, she's friendly and fun. All of those things are still true except for the getting into things.

I'm a little off my game because she's been so easy. With the boys, especially Caleb, I could walk into a room, scan it and instantly know what needed to be moved or avoided. Since she's been so lowkey I've become so lax.... Here a few of her antics today:

--I walked into the room and found her standing on the chair

--She walks into the kitchen sucking on a Wallflower, you know the air freshener from Bath and Body. At least she smelled yummy for the rest of the night.

--She found the ant traps.

--Fun with t.p.

The boys were really helpful and ran into the bathroom and rolled the t.p. back into place. I wonder if they were secretly wondering "why'd she go so easy on Addie, if I did that I'd be in big trouble." They were good sports though and just laughed along with me.

"I'm so glad my kids aren't pukers"

Why do I do it? Why do I say stuff like that? I'm only asking for trouble. I don't remember who or what I was talking about, but I remember making this comment in the recent past. It's true usually they don't puke, but still I shouldn't say it. Asking for trouble and received trouble.

Lots of puke from Caleb last night. Michael took care of most of it, which was so wonderful. The middle of the night puke all over the bed isn't my thing (like it's Michael:) ). So we didn't sleep much. Caleb came into our bed, then when Nathan came in our room (as he does every night) I said "you have to go into your bed because there's no room, Caleb's sick" he gave me the evil eye for a really long time. I'd close my eyes for a while, when I opened them again--still with the eye. I was scared of him so I let him in. I then became a mommy sandwich. I had no space. I would look over at Michael sleeping peacefully with no one touching him and push Caleb over to cuddle with Michael but he'd always come back.

Around 5:00 I made the biggest mistake of the night--Gave Caleb the water he'd been asking for. 10 minutes later I had puke all over my back. Gross. Sick. Disgusting. Showers all around. Long night, leads to a long day....

I think the worst part of the ordeal was the smell. It's the worst. It lingered on Caleb even after his shower. It make me a little nauseous to think about it.

Now I get to go and fold the 3 loads of laundry...

Any idea how to get puke smell out of the mattress? The last time I washed the sheets, the mattress pad was still wet when it was bed time so I made the bed without it on. Hence the puke on the mattress......

Vote out Poverty

"Day after day they seek me out;

they seem eager to know My ways,

as if they were a nation that does what is right

and has not forsaken the commands of its God...

loose the chains of injustice, set the oppressed free,

share your food with the hungry, provide shelter for the poor,

clothe the naked."

Michael and I have been struck by how much the Lord calls us to social justice and caring for the poor. We have committed ourselves to reading Isaiah 58 daily for a month and praying the Lord will direct us in how exactly we can help. I was amazed by this chapter a few months ago as I was reading the book "Just Courage." Then, earlier this week when I came downstairs in the morning Michael had left his Bible open to that chapter and a message for me on the answering machine (since we generally wake up hours after he leaves) saying "we need to talk about this chapter." When he got home he said "What are we going to do about this?" It's so obvious that the Lord's heart is for his people to be serving the oppressed and the poor, yet our daily lives don't reflect that. Did you know that there is more human trafficing and slavery going on today around the world then when Wilber Force (Amazing Grace guy) fought to end the slave trade. What am I doing? How can I live out Isaiah 58?

Michael and I figured it was too big of a problem to solve in the ten minutes we have to talk a day (sad but pretty true, he gets home around 8:30 or 9:00 and I've usually put the kids to bed and have started working) and to read Isaiah 58 everyday for a month.

I love how the Lord brings things together, I just got home from listening to Jim Wallace from Sojourners talk to a large group of us at University of Detroit Mercy about our role as Christians to change the political environment in America. He encouraged us to "be the wind" of change. There are 30,000 people that die everyday of starvation, we need to stop this. We need to make noise about getting rid of poverty in our rich nation. He spoke about revivals and how a revival is only considered a revival when it changes something. Our churches need to come together and fight for poverty to end. The UN has Millennium Development Goals to end extreme poverty over the world, I had never heard about this until tonight. How crazy is that since it's been going on since 2000 and the goal is to elliminate extreme poverty by 2015. I guess I need more education. I also heard tonight that the United Kingdom came up with a plan to half poverty in 10 years and it's working. America needs real plans that are put in action and measurable to end poverty here. It's not so much about which candidate is perfect but about Christians coming together to "loosen the chains of injustice, to set the oppressed free...Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear" again with Isaiah 58....

Sojourners may be a little liberal for some. I definitely don't agree with everything they say, but I think they are on the right track....encouraging Christians and churches to live how we are called to. Their goal is to Vote Out Poverty. Let's do it.

I for real need to go to bed. Addie's due to wake up in about a half an hour and do some crazy middle of the night, scratchy voice yelling and Nathan due to come and cuddle with me in about 2 hours. I'm real busy even in my sleep:)

“The church must be reminded that it is not the
master or the servant of the state, but rather the
conscience of the state. It must be the guide and
the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the
church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it
will become an irrelevant social club without
moral or spiritual authority.”
—MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
Strength to Love, 1963.

Soccer Updates

For those of you who are wondering how the season's going for Michael, read this.

The kids and I have been to most of the games. The boys absolutely love it, they run around like wild banchis. Addie's a little baller herself, after the game on Friday she was kicking the ball all over the place. It's pretty funny considering the ball is half her size. She also has come to associate Fordson's field with Dada, since he's not home much during the week. When we got to the game on Wednesday, she pointed to the field and said "I, Dada"

Preschool

Both of the boys started preschool this week. They love it. This is Caleb's second year he has a new teacher this year, he was a little leery of Mrs. Guelli but after the first day he was sold. He told me he thinks she's the best teacher and she's funny:) She's pretty entertaining and the first day was mesmerized by her.

Nathan has Mrs. Hadwee (Hadley) I was so surprised by what a mature little 3 year he is. The first day of preschool the parent stays so that the kids can get used to the class. While all the other kids were being regular 3 year olds and wondering around a little and clinging to mommy, he was sitting quietly and listening to his teacher. At one point he was annoyed with the other kids during story time because they weren't "wistening." He took his preschool experience pretty seriously:)

It's a co-op preschool so I have to work in the classroom, this year I'm also on the board because I'm apparently a crackhead and thought I had a ton of extra time on my hands:) Anyway, I receive and deposit all the checks that come in, because I'm so great with numbers. Again with the crackhead bit. Anyway, I'm practically going to be living at preschool between dropping off one of the kids everyday and the meetings I have to go to. But it's fun. The other mom's are great and the kids love it.

Wemonade for Afwica

All summer long Caleb has been wanting to have a lemonade stand and also asking me if he can give some of his toys to people that don't have any. So last Friday I decided it was time to follow through with his good ideas. We made a poster days earlier and while I was babysitting for my sweet nieces and nephew we had the lemonade stand.

They were all so sweet and a lot of people stopped and gave them $. Everytime a car would drive by Nathan would say "Wemonade for Afwica" with his raspy, little voice. He was so adorable. Our neighbors were so great too. We only had our little stand open for an hour and the kids made $35.00.

We used the money to buy mosquito nets from Sharing International . I got the idea from this great website: http://www.kidslake.org/. They feature monthly projects for kids to raise money for. The nets were the project for June but Caleb was set on getting those. He's had his run ins with bugs this summer and wants to help protect people in Liberia:)

Here's a blurb from KidsLake about this project:

In Liberia mosquitoes are EVERYWHERE! Here in America if we get bit by a mosquito it is not really a big deal. Sure, they itch but we do not fear for our lives! In Liberia most mosquitoes carry a deadly disease called malaria. Kids over in Liberia have to be protected not only during the day but also at night while they sleep! Their houses don't have good roofs and doors so mosquitoes can get in.Malaria kills 58 kids in Liberia a day! 58!How we can help:Earn,Save and Raise your money for mosquito nets.They are seven dollars for one mosquito net but they will cover four kids! The orphanage they will be going to sleeps two kids on each bunk. So seven dollars could help save four precious lives!

The Rockstar

So my brother in law, Jerry Schroeder, is an awesome musician. You can hear his music and vote for him on IndieHeaven.

TO VOTE:1. Click here.
2. Find "Creation" on the chart. (Currently #19!)
4. Vote 5-stars once-a-day, everyday, for the next two weeks!