3 months and counting....

I get to stare at this face all day long.

3 months and counting....

• You are almost rolling over... definitely getting to your side.
• You laugh hysterically when tickled.
• You took a full bottle of formula last night when mama was preoccupied and did great!
• You would be satisfied to just be held and people watch.
• You are grabbing things and pulling them down towards you.
• You are such a trouper when Isaac "mega-rocks" you, when Elijah takes your blanket from you or when Zoey sings to you nose to nose.
• You are such a good baby and you make my life so full!

and in all things.... session 36

Today on March 2nd, 2012 I am thankful for...

1. Galatians 3:14.
2. Good jewelry cleaner.
3. Astoria.
4. Pacifiers.
5. The invitation to approach God.
6. Double stroller.
7. My introduction to sushi by my brother.
8. The patience in others.
9. The elderly couple that helps me with my kids every afternoon when I pick up Isaac.
10. Family.

ZoLo

Thank you Lord for giving me a daughter.

pink bows. ballet shoes. neon nail polish. fluffy dresses. baby dolls. watermelon lip gloss. princess stories and movies. pink polka-dot blankets. flower pjs. pretend make-up. pastel socks.

Dear Kids...

"And whence comes it that men who have joyfully given up themselves for Christ, find it so hard to give up themselves for their brethren?"

{Andrew Murray, from his book Humility}

Dear Kids....

I know sometimes I get frustrated at the endless toys on the ground or the fact that the kitchen sink is always filled with dirty dishes. I can get crabby when we can't find that same glove every morning or when a glass of milk is spilled all over the newly cleaned floors. I hate to admit it, but at times I am overwhelmed with the amount of laundry I have to do, the number of meals I have to prepare and the immeasurable "mommy" calls I have to answer. Truth is, this mommy thing is hard, and I am constantly counting on God's grace to get me through each day.

However, after all is said and done, I need you to know that there aren't a group of people on this planet that I would rather serve. I am humbled and honored that the Lord would call me to give my time, my resources and my life for each of you. You are worth far more than anything I have to give, and when I think about how much each of you mean to me... to God... I am put-back by the fact that things like dirty clothes get me stressed. I love you all... enough to serve you each and every day. I might not have much talent or wealth to bestow upon you, but I can serve you... with a grateful heart. Please know that my sacrifices, as small as they may be, are my way of saying you are the most important people to me.

Love, Mom

family day

We took a much needed family adventure yesterday and had so much fun! Chris wanted to start off at the zoo, but I saw the temperature in the morning and it was 29 degrees! I'm glad I caved, because it ended up being one of the nicest days and all the animals were out to play. I am so blessed to have a man who works hard to support his family and we are grateful for the work that is coming his way... but I do have to say that it was so much fun having him with us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and in all things... session 35

Things I am thankful for on January 19, 2012...

1. Psalm 5:11
2. Honey Greek Yogurt
3. Effective Antibiotics
4. My husband's sense of humor
5. God's undeniable presence
6. Fruit Leather
7. Testimonies
8. Nap-time
9. An infant who is consistently sleeping through the night
10. Friends who are sacrificial (One particular couple is Jimmie and Angela Brennan.. we were so honored to purchase a meal for a family in need in Springfield... Read their story here)

TOM 2012

 

This past weekend was our annual winter retreat "Tent of Meeting."

It was so much fun to have a group from Tommy's church in New Jersey come here to minister to us. God moved in a mighty way and I am still processing all that happened. Tomorrow some of our youth are going to get up and share with our congregation the changes God  has made in their lives. I am so proud!

Keeping this one in my pocket.

My head is buzzing today.

So much to think about. So many decisions to make. So many opportunities to ponder.

BUT today we shut it all down.

The kids aren't feeling well and I am beyond exhausted.

Today I rest knowing that my God's arms are strong.... strong enough for even my crazy life.

The life I feel not many understand.

He understands.

getting big...

as a man speaks with his friend.

Getting ready to head up to our annual youth winter retreat.

I love spending time with God... with youth.

I hate leaving my kids.

I pulled an all-nighter to get everything done.

Everything is still not done.

Please keep us in your prayers!

 

 Now, Moses used to take a tent and set it up far outside the camp. He called it the tent of meeting. Anyone who was seeking the Lord’s will used to go outside the camp to the tent of meeting. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand at the entrances to their tents and watch Moses until he went in. As soon as Moses went into the tent, the column of smoke would come down and stay at the entrance to the tent while the Lord spoke with Moses. When all the people saw the column of smoke standing at the entrance to the tent, they would all bow with their faces touching the ground at the entrance to their own tents. The Lord would speak to Moses personally, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would come back to the camp, but his assistant, Joshua, son of Nun, stayed inside the tent.

{Exodus 33:7-11}

you know... THAT friend.

So I have this friend... you know the one.... my first real friend.

The one I grew up with....literally.

The one I begged my parents to have sleep over.

The one I made up crazy stories with.

The one who had the crazy wall paper in her room that I will never forget.

The one whose home phone number is forever stored in my brain.

That friend.

I got to see her today.... and her adorable little man.

I get a little emotional thinking about it, mostly because I wish she lived next door.

I'm so proud of her.

She's accomplished things in life that completely blow my brain... and yet, is one of the most humble people I know.

 She probably doesn't know this, but I still have the other half to my BFF necklace.

I love you Angela and had so much fun catching up today!!

{see more of her adorable boy Holden here)

{phone photo dump}

a sweet surprise.

I found these pictures above each of the kids beds. I have no idea when he put them there.

 

 

10 weeks

Jacob Christopher Bunk

{10 weeks}

• You are smiling up a storm
• This week you started sleeping through the night
• You are pretty fond of baths
• You are moving your feet and legs in the air a lot
• You have a very healthy digestive system
• You have a pout that will get you anything you want
• You are a little nervous around Elijah, but love watching him jump on the couch
• You are getting a little intolerant of kiddie kisses on the cheek
• You love having your belly and head rubbed 

i love that we saved this towel

while waiting...

Lori, how are you doing?

Well....

• I forgot my daughter's school lunch today.
• I put the sour cream in the freezer.
• I put the chips in the fridge.
• I dumped my entire cup of coffee on my lap at work.
• I can never remember the name for the seat Elijah sits in to eat.
• I scheduled a coffee get-together for 12:30pm b/c I didn't have a meeting at the church until 1pm... once I arrived I realized that wasn't an "hour and 1/2" for coffee and had to ditch my coffee date after 20 minutes to make my meeting (thank you Cora for being so understanding!)
• I put Zoey's shirt on backwards and inside-out.
• I locked my keys in my office at church.
• I forgot to put shoes on Elijah for church.

Should I go on?

July 1991

While we were organizing our office today, I came across a card my Nonne gave me with a baby afghan before she passed away. Needless to say, I was beside myself. 

{This is coming from a girl who still cannot bring herself to delete her phone number from my cell phone}

welcome

Welcome Vivienne Jeannine Bunk to this crazy world!

You are one loved little girl!

{Zoey is having a hard time saying her name... so right now it's "baby indian"}

finger peek-a-boo

So Zoey and Elijah play this game where they stick their fingers underneath the door of Zoey's bedroom and the other person tries to touch them before they disappear. There are boundless giggles coming from upstairs when this particular game is played. 

I love it. I love the fact that they are playing nicely together. I love the giggles. I love that they created their own game... and I love the fact that none of any of this had to do with me. 

jakey and li-jee

These 2 give me a run for my money.

Seeing that they are only 14 months apart, I don't see that changing any time soon.

ice rink

Chris made an ice rink in our backyard.

I think it's close to Olympic size.

The kids have been out there every day it has been cold enough.

Zoey is even getting comfortable on skates!

I LOVE MICHIGAN!
(sorry the pictures aren't very good... I was taking them from inside the warm house with the babies)

saturday

I love days when our family can just be together... the entire day. I know that seems very simple, but because of our lifestyle, this doesn't always just happen for us. Today the only things we had scheduled we could all be together, and I think I smiled the entire day (well, not when I was trying to find snow clothes for the 3 older kids... that was stressful). Our day ended at Cameron's 5th birthday party and Isaac couldn't have been happier... I mean, a night to jump around and be with friends... he was in heaven!

they'll learn soon enough....

My niece Alina and Zoey are best-friends. You know, the kind-of friends where you want to call them at nighttime to share that you found your lost strawberry shortcake doll in your brother's legos. The other day when they were together, I was cracking up at their interaction....I would constantly hear things like....

"You're mean."

"I don't want to do that!"

"I love you so much!"

"Your hair looks so pretty today."

"Stop looking at me!"

I had to step in and break up a few conversations that got a little out of control, but I couldn't help wonder.... what would my relationships be like if we were to talk to each other as candidly as preschool girls? Could you imagine?

there is always a glitch

{this picture was taken back when Elijah had his big fall out of the car}

Since Jacob has been born, I probably hear the phrase "You have your hands full!" at least once a day. It's a true statement. I definitely always have my hands full. I had a conversation at church the other night with another mom who was asking me how it's going. I told her it's going great... until there is a glitch... and with 4 kids 5 years and younger there is always glitch.... and by "glitch" I mean things going downhill fast.

I could give an example of how our Sunday mornings go, but instead I will just say that I'm learning some great character traits with this new family of 6 and all of our fun glitches:  

1}flexibility   2}patience   3}grace

 

I'll tell you one thing... I definitely couldn't do this alone. God knew me inside and out when he brought Chris into my life.  I mean, this guy watched all 4 kids yesterday (I had a youth activity at the church), fed them, changed them and still found time to clean the entire house!

time flies when you have 4 kids...

Some new things going on in the Bunk household:

• Jacob smiled for the first time this morning... the real kind of smile! The best part was it was when Isaac was holding him and we were all there to see it!
• Isaac lost his 2nd tooth. This one didn't just fall out, so our brave little man worked it until it came out. We were very proud of him.
• Zoey is learning so much and is now coloring inside the lines. I caught her doing it the other day and was shocked. She also beat both Chris and Isaac in a BeyBlades tournament they had and is now going around the house saying "GIRL POWER!"
• Elijah can pull himself up onto almost anything and is starting to say new words. His sign language is expanding as well. His favorite thing to do is wrestle and is tackling Zoey to the ground all day long. She is not amused. This kid keeps me on my toes!
• Chris and I still laugh all day long at the craziness of our house... but wouldn't have it any other way. We are constantly wiping up milk spills, breaking up Nerf sword wars, trying to find bottles and changing diapers.... we love it, just could use a little more sleep. We both moan when the alarm goes off in the morning (and by "alarm" I mean one of the kids yelling our name).
  

{phone photo dump}

i feel like i have cotton balls in my brain.

I used to feel semi-intelligent.

There was even a time where I could hold a decent conversation about something somewhat important... religion, politics, theology, etc.

Now I can barely tell you what day it is.

I guess that's what 3 hours of sleep a night does to a person.

On the other hand, I can tell you in detail the humming noise Jacob makes with his nose when he is happily eating.... and the sound Elijah makes when he runs across our hardwood floors with a flat foot ... and the details of the colic in my baby girl's hair and the way she squirms when I'm trying to unsuccessfully cover it up... and the mortified look Isaac gives me when I say something "girlie."

So please forgive me if I ask you to repeat the same sentence over to me for the 3rd time... or if I start to daze off in delirium while answering your question.

I have a brain.
One that has served me quite well in the past.

It's just working in a different capacity at the moment.

Our Airport Adventure.

My parents LOVE missions.

In fact, as long as I can remember, they have had a deep passion and longing for the world... especially 3rd world countries. We took short-term missions trips with them once a year when we were younger, but now that we are all grown, God has launched them out more and more and it seems like they are gone overseas as much as they are here. 

Last night they were coming back from a17-day trip to Sierra Leone, Africa. I was in charge of finding someone to pick them up. I knew before they left that I wanted to do it myself.... 17-days is a LONG time! Well, after talking to the rest of the family, we fought about decided that we would ALL go to get them from the airport. (and by ALL I mean 5 adults and 8 children). So we all hopped on the church bus and headed out to Metro Airport. It might seem crazy, but you get all the best stories on the way home from the airport!

I love my parents.

I am so proud of them for following the call of God.

I'm only slightly jealous of the places they get to go and people they get to meet.

Someday.....

Jakey @ 6 weeks

  Yesterday marked 6 weeks old for our Jakey-boy and I have to say that time is flying!!! Everyday I look at him and freak out because he is growing so fast. He is an incredible eater, a very good sleeper and is loved by his brothers and sisters more than he knows. He is staying awake during the day more and more and he LOVES being held by his sister, Zoey. To be completely honest, she is the one that can calm him down the best! He gets a lot of love each day, even if it comes in the form of a bop on the head or a slobbery kiss on the cheek. He is starting to follow objects and people with his eyes, and like all of our kids, has a very strong neck.... he is always picking his head up to see what's going on. Now we are just waiting for you to sleep through the night... well at least one of us is!

We love you Jake!