My Sweet Hubby

My favorite seminarian finished his last class project of the school year yesterday. Therefore, overnight I have gone from feeling like a single working mom to a working mom married to a full-time homemaker. As of last week, this was Micah's world:

The laptop, books, glasses, backpack, pen and pencil, phone, watch, water bottle, a glass of wine, and a fork. As long as there was occasionally some food to go on that fork, he was all set to spend endless hours sitting in this spot. Micah works very hard, and really takes his studies seriously. We're very proud of him for that. After all of that hard work, it was time for some well-deserved "rest."

Micah knows that it's tough for me to work full-time and take care of three kids and the household while he's busy with school work. So, once he gets a break, I can usually count on some special surprises to greet me when I get home from work. Here's what I got today:
What a guy! I wish I would have thought to take a picture of the dinner he made, which was fabulous. If this continues for more than a few days, I'm going to be spoiled rotten.

The kids and I are so very thankful to have this man as our husband and father. The Lord has blessed us far more than we deserve. We look forward to this coming year, when rather than "student" he will be "Vicar Micah." We couldn't be more proud. God is good.

May Milestones

In my last post, I mentioned that we had an exciting few weeks coming up. An exciting few weeks it has been! Micah and I celebrated our 13th anniversary a few days early by going out for a lovely meal and to a fun Mercy Me concert. On the actual day, we decided to have a picnic dinner with the kids by the fountains in Forest Park. Since it was a little cloudy and chilly, we had the whole place to ourselves!


Then came Easter and our trip to Lincoln. We always love the opportunity to reconnect with family and friends, and we were thankful to celebrate our Lord's resurrection with our home church family. Aunt Che Che bought Maci an adorable Easter ensemble. It was hard to get a good picture of it since she was so excited that she couldn't hold still.

Then came the day we've been looking forward to for two years: Call Day! This is the day that the 2nd year seminary students receive their vicarage (internship) placements, and the 4th year students receive their pastoral calls. Here's a picture of Micah and the neighbor guys before the service.

We found out that Micah will spend the next year doing some hands-on learning at Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Charles, MO. We're so excited about this next phase in our journey. We can't wait to serve at Immanuel, and we're so thankful that it's only 25 minutes away from our current home. Our kids can stay in their same schools, and I will keep my same job.

A few days later, we celebrated Joel's 5th birthday by going to a Cardinals game with Grandma and Grandpa. We had a great time, even though the Cards lost. It was a beautiful day, and Joel felt pretty special.


We've really been enjoying the warmer weather, and the kids got to play with the hose for the first time this year. There's just something about kids and water that brings endless joy. They were tuckered out afterwards and all collapsed in a lawn chair.

We are blessed beyond measure. God is good.

Spring Fling!

It has been such a beautiful spring here in The Lou. We've had a little winter, a little summer, some sunshine, and some rain. Kind of like our family this last month: some ups, and some downs, but altogether blessed.


I got a call one morning a few weeks ago saying Joel had gone to battle with the steps on the slide at preschool and lost. Thankfully I just have a two minute walk to get to his school, so I was able to put the ice pack on his head and hold him for a while. He ended up with a huge goose egg and two black eyes, but otherwise not too much worse for the wear.

We've had a couple of fun outings in recent weeks. We went to Wetlands for Kids at a nature conservatory and got to pet some reptiles, dig for random larvae and other floaty things in the pond, and get lots of fresh air. But the best part was the walk back to the car. I love those boys.

We also went to the Butterfly House with friends. It's so fascinating to see so many butterflies so close up.


The kids get to take swimming lessons this spring. They all love it!


In other news, Maci just got finished being treated for strep throat, Jonah had a positive throat culture this morning, and we're planning on taking Joel in for a doctor visit tomorrow. We're hoping to get everyone healthy soon, because we have an exciting few weeks coming up! More on that later, but until then, happy spring everyone!

February Festivities!

Our February started with a crazy ice storm. We had lots of freezing rain, then three inches of sleet, followed by snow a few days later. This is the under side of our back steps.

Everything was crunchy and bent over under the weight of the ice.


Thanks to the moderate (in our opinion!) weather in St. Louis, within a few days it was in the 60s, and Joel saw fit to go outside without his shirt on to play in what was left of the snow.

Every year the seminary has a Valentine's Ball, complete with dinner and dancing. Micah and I took the opportunity to have a rare evening out together. We had a wonderful time. Since the two of us are almost never in a picture at the same time, I thought I should attach one for posterity!


For Christmas, my parents bought us a membership to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. When they came to visit us, we went to see the orchid show...

...and climbed around in the Climatron.


Since we can't seem to go more than a couple of months between visits to Carlyle Lake, we headed there at the end of February during Micah's winter quarter break.

We are so thankful for a safe warm place to live in the midst of storms, wonderful friends and family to share special times with, and of course, the lake! God's blessings to you and yours!

January Mish-Mash!

We had a wonderful Christmas celebrating with family and friends. When we got back from our visit to Nebraska, we certainly didn't give ourselves any opportunity for an after Christmas letdown. We decided to spend New Years weekend at Carlyle Lake. Even though it was freezing, we wanted to be outside. This photo was taken by Joel (4) on the dam. It's better than most of the pictures I took!


The kids warming their backsides by the fireplace in the cabin...

We finally got to our first "Preachers" basketball game here at the seminary. It's so fun to see the games played with such great sportsmanship and integrity. At this game the seminary brass ensemble formed a pep band, the little girls performed a dance routine at halftime, and everyone was given "bam bams" to show their spirit.


We've had a few snowstorms this winter where we got a few inches of snow, but on Thursday we got a genuinely big snow.


Both school and daycare were closed, but the seminary was open, so the kids and I had a snow day at home. We did some lounging...


Had an impromptu music and dance ensemble...


And capped it off by making homemade play dough.


Then it was time to celebrate Jonah's 8th birthday. He asked to take a couple of friends to "Grossology" at the Science Center. They had a digestive system you could crawl through...


And a giant nose that sneezed.


In the next couple of weeks, we're looking forward to visits from both of our parents. We're so blessed by our families back home, our wonderful friends here, and by all that this journey brings.

"C" What We've Been Up To!

We have had a great couple of months. Sometimes I find it hard to narrow down what I should share in our blog posts, so more often than not I just don't do one! In honor of the Christmas season, I decided to limit myself to only subjects that begin with "C"!

Carlyle Lake: We were encouraged to do something special during Micah's fall break in November, so we returned to one of our favorite camping spots. It was too cold for the tent, so we rented a cabin for the weekend. We hiked, bird-watched, sat by the fire, and watched the sunrise. We had a wonderful time, and we can't wait to go back once the weather warms up.

Chair: Micah convinced me to make a Craigslist purchase of a new/old leather recliner. He said it would be nice for him to study in. I can't vouch for how much studying is being done in it when I'm not home, but I know it's great for snuggling!

Christmas tree: Anyone who has ever been to St. Louis knows that Ted Drewes has the best frozen custard around. Last winter, we discovered by accident that they also sell Christmas trees! We went back for round 2 this year, and got ourselves a very nice little tree.

Christ Child: Last but certainly not least, we are celebrating the birth of our savior. We had fun at the seminary Christmas party, and got dressed up to pose in the manger scene.

Back at home, we've been enjoying a "progressive" manger scene, inspired by a faculty family. Our stable started out empty after Thanksgiving, with just the animals feeding at the manger. Then the Mary and Joseph figures made their way towards the stable. The shepherds are tending their flocks in the hallway, and the wisemen are still in the "East," also known as the dining room. Baby Jesus will appear in the manger on Christmas, and then the shepherds and wisemen will come to the stable to worship Him. The kids have really gotten into the story this year!

We pray that you and your family will be blessed this Christmas season.

Sharing About Shutterfly!

I pride myself on being a bargain hunter. When I heard that I could get some free Christmas cards by sharing some information about Shutterfly, I had to jump on it! We've been sending out a lot of Christmas cards as we try to keep in touch with family and friends back home, as well as the new friends we've made here.

After receiving so many cute photo cards over the years, I started noticing that most of my favorites said "Shutterfly" on the back. A few years ago I decided to try it for myself for the first time. I found the process to be very easy. I can't wait to try out one of the new designs this year. Some of my favorites are the square ones that allow space for text, such as a top ten list of memorable moments from the last year.

In addition to cards, Shutterfly also has some neat ideas for photo gifts. Check it out!