A homeschool fundraiser

Hey everyone, Someone told me about this cool site to register my school to earn cash for our school. It works a lot like a script program through a regular school. You just need to sign up online and purchase gift cards on line. It really has a lot of options, from fast food places to grocery stores and gas stations and more. If you feel like helping us out in that way we would be very grateful, as our school list of supplies grows. Paul and I are now buying our groceries via gift cards. We will buy what we need for the month and use that now instead of cash. Maybe it would work for you also. Don't feel like you have to do this. Some of you are already supporting other schools. We totally understand. WE just wanted to get the word out.

Here's how you can do it. Go to myhomeschoolrewards.com and register as a shopper. Then go shopping!You will then have to enter what school you would like to support. My school is listed under Rockton, IL and the name of our school is Seedlings and Sprouts. What ever you buy , you have to use a blank check to pay with. They will not accept credit cards as that would cut down on the rewards part.It is very safe. Like i said before we use it. The gift cards are then mailed to you right from Milton WI. Thanks for taking time to read.
Nichole

Long video?

Sorry everyone, I got a little picture happy and the video is a bit long. Also you may want to listen to it without the music.You can turn it off on the video, or you can turn off the play list. Just look for the pause button. Enjoy!

Christmas letter 2008

“For unto us a child is born,

To us a son is given,

And the government will be upon his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 NIV

Greetings to you, friends and Family,

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. One filled with love and laughter with family and friends, one with memories made each other. But mostly we pray that the Lord has filled your home with His love and promises to you that He will one day come again to bring us home.

Isn’t it incredible how the year flies by so fast? The new years always sneaks up on us and surprise it’s here. We know its coming yet we are never quite ready to welcome it in fully. IF only we could of … or finished… or had gone….IF only. There is one thing I must remind myself, is that this time on earth is not here to see how much we can cram in one calendar year. But yet one that is given to us By God to thank, praise and serve Him for all the incredible moments he has given us.

In April it felt incredibly good to see Paul get his first call as a Pastor to St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Rockton, IL. Then in May there was an Incredible sigh of relief that Paul’s four years of Sem. Work is now over.(well almost) Then to attend an Incredible ordination service in August to See Paul ordained had really made our year a busy year indeed. We are incredibly thankful to all who have helped and were a port of the whole process from the beginning to the very end. And now as Paul has started his new journey here at St. Andrew’s he does an incredible job of being Pastor Paul, Daddy, and a loving husband all at the same time. We thank all that are supporting us through prayer and friendship. On Eagle’s wings we are constantly in flight. Trusting in the Lord always for His guidance.

It’s also incredible to see how much your children have grown in just a year.

Timothy has learned how to tie his shoes, snow board, and has become an Incredible reader. He is now seven and has become a very helpful big brother in many more ways. He has a very big heart, and he is very serious when it comes to making sure things are done right.

Lily is 5 ¾ . Lily is incredibley sweet and thoughtful. She is so good with her brothers and sisters. She is in kindergarten and is also starting to read. (so spelling out secrets between Paul and I is getting pretty hard to do. We’ll have to learn pig latin next) Lily loves dresses. She will wear dresses every day morning and night if I let her.

Lucy is almost 3. She remains to be incredibly strong willed. This can be a very good thing for her. After all she is the third child. She has learned to go the bathroom. She still loves to run around with hardly any clothes on. If she could she would run around in tights all day and show you her undies in exchange to see yours. She is very sociable at church and sits with anybody but her mother. Lucy tugs at your heart that makes you just pick her up to enjoy her hugs.

Nathaniel is now 16 months. Talk about incredible moments lets see here, His first step, first words, first trip down a waterslide, first tumble down the stairs, first drink of pop, first climb up on to the piano! He is keeping up with everyone else. He loves his moose and is a very cuddle kid. He smiles brighten up the whole room.

As for myself, I have kept incredibly busy. I am still homeschooling. I enjoy it very much. There are many days where it is challenging, but the joys of seeing my children grow in faith and love for their Lord and for each other far out ways the challenges. I get to enjoy the innocence of growing up a little more. I cherish those moments as little blessings from above. It was great to study the planets and hear Tim say “mom, I traveled around the sun 7 times! How many times have you traveled around the sun?” Lily is always asking if she can do school work. I have been able to do other things also. We have a wonderful church family. They do take care of us. On Wednesday s, I get to go to choir, Paul and I get to date once in while all because friends take time to watch our four children. I teach two year old Sunday school on Sunday mornings in my house. That has been a joy also.

As for incredible moments, there has been a vast amount of them. We take the time now to take in the most incredible moment that happened over 2000 years ago. Thinking about the quite night in Bethlehem, an incredible moment like no other, the birth of our King, Jesus came upon the earth. That incredible moment was followed by many more all the way to the cross and on Easter Morning when His tomb was found empty! His most incredible moment, raising us from death to give us eternal life, Alleluia! Merry Christmas!

Our family wishes you an Incredible New Year!

Daddy's Done!!

The kids ideas on the pastoral ministry

Lily: Tell me what you think about daddy being a Pastor? I just love daddy a lot. He will teach everybody and he will umm and will be a pastor forever.


What will daddy teach everybody? Teach them how to be good and the words that he says. Be kind and be grateful and speak nicely to your friends and family. He gets his words from God. And God helps him to heal up when he gets owies.


What do you think is daddy's favorite bible story? A God story that says "I love you God and God loves everybody. " He has lots of bible stories on his shelves.


Was it hard for daddy to become a pastor? Yeah, he graduated. He had to wear a hat and it was a long time waiting for daddy to be done.


Was it hard for lily to wait for daddy to be done? Yes! I really love him and he loves me. I had to go with Nana and play around when we waited for daddy, and we colored, that was fun.


How many people helped our family when daddy was at school? One, two, three, four, five..... too many to count! I am so happy because they loved us and they took care us and some came to our house. "Thank you for helping us."


What will you call daddy when you see him in Church. I say Hi daddy welcome back to your work. Then I say daddy can you please come back home?


Timmy: Tell me what you think about daddy being a Pastor? I think he's going to be a pastor because he wants to be a pastor. Maybe he wants to be a pastor because he likes to preach.

Is daddy a good preacher? Yeah! What does he preach about? Jesus! Jesus loves us. He also went to school to learn how to preach.

What do you think daddy had to do in school? I'mmm not sure, I don't know. I know he had to work hard.

How long was daddy in school for? The whoooole year! Did you like having daddy go to school? No, because he just takes too long. And he has to work every day.

Do you like that daddy is going to be a pastor? No, because I don't like him wearing the stall thing around his neck but then everyone knows that he is a pastor. One thing I like about daddy being a pastor is that he really cares about God and helps other people.

Is daddy a good daddy? He's a great daddy because he plays swords with me and he might build me a tree house.Daddy is good because he wants to see how much money it would cost to buy a tree house.

What is daddy's favorite bible story? Noah's ark!