Beautiful Chaos

@ 8am this morning

I owe some gratitude to my incredible husband who woke me up, brewed the coffee, printed out my voter's guide and watched the kids while he sent me off to vote. Thanks Chris!

85 years...and still kickin'

Happy 85th Birthday, Grandma Neva!

"What is it about grandparents that is so lovely? I'd like to say that grandparents are God's gifts to children. And if they can but see, hear and feel what these people have to give, they can mature at a fast rate."
-Bill Cosby-

...and Happy 25th Birthday, Joel Maus!

Johnny B. Goode

Saturday night when Mike and Kristen were over, Chris put on his all-time favorite movie... Back to the Future. We were watching the scene where Marty McFly does the "Johnny B Goode" song, and this is what happened...(Chris was so proud!)


Johnny B Goode from lori bunk on Vimeo.

"Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation."

We made a purchase tonight that has me more excited than Christmas morning. After 7 years of using our Krups Coffeepot at least twice a day, we got a new one... and I am thrilled!

"Forever: Time it takes to brew the first pot of coffee in the morning."
-Author Unknown-

Kiss Me Kate

You know it's bad when every time you take a picture someone asks, "Is that for the blog?" I can't help myself... and you're right, I may be obsessed.

Last night, Isaac had so much fun playing with "2 babies!" Our poor friends the Molloy's had to endure hours of endless conversation with Chris and I, yet again. We are blessed to have patient friends, that's for sure! Praise God for the extra hour!

Fall FrEnZy 2008

Well, Fall Frenzy was a success and so much fun! Isaac went as Spiderman (his choosing...he had a mask but it kept going over his eyes) and Zoey went as a PeaPod (even if it was only for 15 minutes). More pictures at Keri and Nina's site...

Cousin Time

Isaac loves having his cousin Alina over... mostly because he loves to be protective of her and make sure she is safe. I can't tell you how many times today I heard, "no-no Alina, it's not for you, you're a baby!" It's the craziest thing spending time with my sister's daughter... there are so many things that remind me of her! I love this little girl!

“Cousins are many. Best friends are few. What a rare delight to find both in you.”

Lookin' Back

Well, it's that time of year again... Fall Frenzy! Year 1 we had a skunk, year 2 we had a Nemo... and year 3 we have a tired mommy with very little imagination. At least tonight will be packed with fun, candy and worship. Let's just pray that Isaac keeps his costume on for more than 3 minutes!

an oldie, but a goodie

just reminiscing...

my amazing job!

 I was sitting with 3 mothers I had just met today and they were asking me what I did for a living (besides being a mom). As I started to share with them the life of a youth pastor, I realized, "I have an amazing job!" I knew this before, but maternity leave has helped me appreciate it a lot more. So for all the times I've stayed up all night playing hide-n-seek in the dark, had my car or house TPed, had my cupboards eaten bare, had my computer hacked into and my password changed, had my phone changed to Spanish or had my keys hidden for hours... I still wish I had more time with these incredible students!

The Spitting Image...

When I was growing up, my mom would frequently say "I hope you have a kid just like you," to which I would respond, "I hope so too!" Well, I really wish I could take that back... especially after seeing that play out in my face tonight. Most people say that Isaac is the spitting image of Chris, but tonight I am to blame. I wish the Lord would consult with us during the 9 month gestation period and ask us which personality traits we would like to pass on to our kids. Instead, he creates these little beings that put us face to face with all of the things we've worked to hard to cover. My prayer is that the Lord uses the things he has taught me to help Isaac become more like His Heavenly Father. I have a feeling this is only the beginning...

look what we found...

Chris recently downloaded all the pictures that were on my phone that I thought I had lost. Here is some of what we found...

On another note, can I just give thanks to the Lord that I was able to practically sleep thru the night last night? Zoey's not even 2 months old and she just slept from midnight until 6am, then after she was fed she slept again until 9am. I am so blessed (and now a little refreshed). I am actually sipping my coffee and enjoying it instead of downing it to get thru the morning!

32 days and counting...

32 days until THANKSGIVING!

1. Which President was the 1st to establish Thanksgiving as a legal national holiday to be held the 4th Thursday in November?

2. What does the word "cornucopia" mean?

3. In what year did the 1st Macy's parade take place?

The Thankful Tree

Yesterday Isaac made his "Thankful" Tree. We wrote down some of the people we are most grateful for and and he stuck them to the tree. Now everyday until thanksgiving, we will read the tree and thank God for placing these people in our lives.

Psalm 9:1
"I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart..."

Psalm 105:1,2
"Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wondrous works!"

"I think we're at the star...again"

Tonight Chris and I took some of the high schoolers to a corn maze. That thing was CRAZY! We got filthy, got frustrated, met new people and had a ton of fun! Afterwards we got pizza and went back to the church to play hide-n-seek in the dark. For some reason Valerie and I ended up being "IT" and I thought I was going to need an oxygen machine. There's nothing like a group of high school students to make you feel old!

We went to CORN MAZE FAMILY FUN in the middle of nowhere. I think next time we will go during the day and grab some coffee beforehand!

...LaZy SaTuRdAy...

I think we've worn ourselves out. We had fussy, under-the-weather children that needed a day of rest (me included... I stumbled to the coffee maker this morning). Chris had to work, so the kids and I just cuddled, laughed and spent time at home.

All World Gym

Today we went to "All World Gym" with a group from our church. Ironically, it happens to be the same place that I took gymnastics when I was young, although the place looks completely different. Isaac and Drew had so much fun jumping all around! I can't wait for the next one!

Tonight was a good night.

Tonight was a good night.
Tonight was our Thursday night prayer meeting, and as usual, Isaac, Zoey and I arrived at 6pm with plenty of snacks and books in tow. Zoey had settled in her stroller and Isaac was eating his goldfish and coloring in the corner, so I then proceeded to grab my coffee and pace in the back of the sanctuary to pray. About 5 minutes in, Isaac tugged at my leg and asked me if I was praying to Jesus. When I said yes, he asked if he could pray and I nodded yes. He then began to walk back and forth in the sanctuary, hands folded, saying "Jesus" over and over. As you can imagine, I started to tear up. So many times I have felt guilty for dragging my kids to commitments that I have made, instead of feeling fortunate that I am exposing them to the things that are the most important in my life. Tonight changed that viewpoint. Although I want to be careful not to encourage Isaac to repetitiously do things just because someone else does, I am grateful for the opportunity to share these moments with him and teach him about our relationship with Jesus.
Tonight was a good night.

Utica-n-Dodge Park

This morning Isaac, Zoey and I went to the Sterling Heights Library. While we were in the area, we also took a tour of a bunch of places I remember from when I was little. My dad used to work for the city of Sterling Heights and his office was in the Upton House, so I have quite a few memories from that corner.
So much fun!

social experiment gone wrong

Yesterday when April and the boys were over, we decided to do a social experiment and let the boys work out their own issues outside. Needless to say, a dollar-store hockey stick was broke in half. Isaac didn't seem to care until this morning, when he insisted on fixing it with daddy's electrical tape. He found it from somewhere and came over to Aunt Jeni to tape it up. He was so proud of the fact that he fixed his hockey stick that I had to take a pic.