Here, there, and a little bit of everywhere...

So far in December...

1. Our Shout service was featured in the local newspaper for celebrating our 10 year anniversary. They did a great job pulling together all the information that I and our friend, Jeff, sent them and used a picture that Brooklyn took of us on my iPhone.


2. I got a new hoodie from Heart in Sol. I LOVE it. It may or may not have been inspired by this post.

3. On December 1, this cutie turned 8 months old. Cute cute cute!! Can't stand the cuteness. Don't tell my kids but I think I show people her picture more than I do B & J's pictures. Oops. :-)

4. On Monday night, my mom and I volunteered with ChildFund, and we got to see Donny and Marie Osmond for free. It was actually a pretty great show (and I'm not just saying that because I have pretty much wanted to be Marie Osmond since I was 5 and saw her in a televised Disney Christmas parade).

5. Our new family pictures were delivered, and I was able to finally rid my dining room of some ghosts of chubbiness past. I figured out that we are about 100 pounds lighter in our new pictures 3 years later. It's been a long journey (one that you have all traveled with me), and i'm pretty darn happy where we have ended up.

Hope everyone's Decembers have been going fabulously! Lots more programs and events and parties coming up soon. 'Tis the season for craziness!

A Christmas to "Shout" About!

As I mentioned here, we celebrated Christmas with our Shout church family last Sunday.

When the "family" was a bit smaller (circa 2006-2008), we were able to purchase presents for all the kids, but as we quickly multiplied (hey, doesn't the bible say go forth and be fruitful and multiply? :-)), we quickly realized that our bank accounts were not multiplying at the same rate as our offspring.

So, last year we decided to do the Secret Santa name exchange with the kids, and it worked well so we did a repeat.

The kids had a great time at our party, and with two kids' bedrooms, a playroom, and toys in our house ranging from age 1-10, we pretty much had every kid entertained (and sequestered upstairs- holla!).

We enjoyed a great lunch of baked spaghetti, salad, garlic cheese bread from Great Harvest (yum), and an Oreo cream cheese dessert (double yum!).

Truly a fabulous time of fellowship and fun with our church family.






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Way Back When-esday: How the 2 Shout Sisters became the 11 Shout Cousins in less than 9 years

In honor of today's Way Back When-esday and the fact that we just hosted our Shout family in our home for our holiday party this weekend (more on that party another day), I wanted to share these pics with y'all.

Back in 2003, Chad and I were part of a small group that started an evening Contemporary Worship service at our church called "Shout." In fact, just this November, we celebrated our 10 year anniversary (more on that another day, too).

When we started the service in 2003, our God-daughter, Allie, was about 2 1/2. Shortly after, we became pregnant with Brooklyn and, in 2005, the original Shout sisters were born.

In August of 2006, we added another sister to the mix, Zoe.

And then in January of 2007, "Little Allie."

The service was still going strong so we started a training program for young musicians...

And babies were still coming! Callie was born in July of 2008, and we pretty much decided that no one in the Shout family was capable of having a baby boy.
And we had time for lots of cute group pictures of the Shout Sisters.

But lo and behold! We are capable of having boys! Jake and Kyle were born in 2009 and 2010.
And then we pretty much gave up on any group pictures.

Because after Jake and Kyle, we also had Reagan and Silas.

Here they are last Christmas in 2012. 9 of them ages 11 to almost 2.

And just when we thought we were done....TWO MORE GIRLS were added to the group! Bella and Madelyn joined the family in April 2013.

And I decided that I would make the kids take a picture before they were allowed to open their Christmas presents this year.

Score!

(Side note: Bella did not whack Madelyn in the head. She was just not happy to leave her daddy's warm arms where she was napping peacefully. Ooops.)

We are so blessed to have this church family and for our kids to have such great friends who are truly like their cousins. It's been amazing to watch this group grow the last 9 years, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for this group. And I pray for their middle school and high school youth group leaders. :-)

I may not be Superwoman...

...but I am One Tough Cookie.

If we are friends on Facebook, then many of you may have heard about my unfortunate run-in with my mortality last weekend.

That's a bit dramatic, I know. But saying it like that is much better than the truth.

Which is that I am kind of an idiot and my body said, to quote my trainer, "Slow your roll."

And that it did when I injured my back in Zumba last Saturday morning.

It took me a few days to put the pieces together as to why exactly I hurt myself doing something I've done a million times before.

But that's just it. I've done it a million times before. And many days in a row. And without rest.

To recap: Friday, I ran 9 miles on the treadmill. (The weather was iffy. And I got excited thinking about watching TWO episodes of Melrose Place that afternoon so I didn't mind.) That night, I found myself in a random push up/plank contest with my parents and Chad. And then Saturday morning I went to Zumba. A lot of exercise with not a lot of rest in between. So, something happened when I twisted, I felt a strain, and thus found myself at the doctor Monday with a slight bulging disc and on 10-14 days of restriction.

So, I've had a lot of time to think. You know, being laid out on ice on my back and all.

I started my thinking and processing with looking back at my activity level the past 5 weeks. It was quite shocking actually. Since August 19, I had only one day that I did not work out. One. There have been many weeks this summer where I worked out 7 days a week. And at the very least, 5-6 days. But honestly, I didn't even realize it. I would weight train two days a week and Zumba two days a week. And then run 2-3 days a week. Different stuff all the time, but pretty high impact stuff. And stuff I truly enjoy doing, so it didn't seem like "work." Or exercise.

But, even with exercise, there is definite truth of "too much of a good thing."

A week ago, I would have swore up and down that I wasn't "obsessed" with fitness. I had goals to reach, I reached them, and now, by God, I have to maintain them. I was just working hard. No biggie. I mean, I was eating well. And even sometimes eating not so well, so you couldn't accuse me of having any sort of diet complex.

But, y'all, looking back, I had an exercise complex. I was obsessed. And if I am being honest with myself, I still am obsessed. Because right now I am having withdrawals. I was depressed all weekend being inside when I would have loved to have been running outside. Or even just playing outside with the kids. I've gone longer bouts than this without Zumba (vacations, holidays, etc) but just the fact that I am not ALLOWED to go to class while it goes on without me makes me sad. And angry. And then depressed again.

But I'm here to say that I am so grateful that I appear to be on the mend. I walked two times this week (with doctor's blessing) but otherwise, I am taking this very slow. I am right on track to be back in the saddle next week slowly easing back into activities. I know things could have gone very different. And based on all the (much appreciated) personal stories on Facebook shared with me, I know I am very lucky.

And I'm not stupid anymore. I know this was a wake up call. I needed to slow down. I needed to rest. And I needed to get myself back on track.....not fitness-wise, but priority-wise.

God sent me a message this week.

I need to shift my priorities. I need to take time for myself, yes. But I can't use exercise as an excuse to eat cake. Or Sweet Frogs fro-yo. Every day.

I need to have balance. A good diet, a moderate exercise routine, time with my family, and time with Him. I need to refocus in general. Not only do I always squeeze in exercise, but I am always moving, in general. I can't sit down at home...there's always dishes to wash, laundry to fold, closets to clean, light bulbs to replace. But this week, I laid on the couch. I had conversation with my husband. I helped Brooklyn with her homework. And I snuggled Jake.

I ate responsibly since I didn't have the "crutch" of exercise. I drank 64 ounces of water everyday. I tried to look positively at my situation. And I didn't try to be Superwoman.

As of last week, I had reached a lot of my fitness goals (which I'll talk more about in a future post), but obviously I still have a lot to learn.

But I am a willing student and listener.

Because this was the wake up call I needed.

I'm just glad I picked up the phone.

Way Back When-esday: The Shout Sister Edition

It's been a while since I posted about Brooklyn's sweet "Shout sisters." These girls have all grown up together Sunday evenings at our church's Sunday night Contemporary worship service.

They first started in 2005 as Allie and Brooklyn (here age 3 and 1/2 and 4 weeks).Zoe and "Little Allie" came in August 2006 and January 2007. Here are the Sisters in April 2008 (Zoe 20 months, Allie 15 months, Allie almost 7, and Brooklyn 3).

Callie joined the group in July 2008. Here are the Sisters at Callie's 1st birthday party on the 4th of July (Allie 2 1/2, Allie 8, Callie 1, Zoe almost 3, and Brooklyn 4 1/2).

And though it's not the best shot, it's miraculous to have them all in the camera lens. This is the only pic I have with the Sisters since the birth of Reagan in October 2010. Here are (from left to right) Reagan- 16 months, Callie- 3 1/2, Zoe- 5 1/2, Allie- 10 1/2, Brooklyn- 7, and Allie- 5.

Now, of course, we have our sweet Shout boys- Jake, "Little Allie's" brother Kyle, and Zoe's brother Silas, but there's just something about these sisters. They are lucky to have each other and it's so amazing as parents to watch them all grow up together.

A Special Time

Brooklyn recently finished up First Communion classes at our church. She will receive First Communion at our evening contemporary service (Shout) in a few weeks.

At her final class, she helped make Communion bread...

And then they practiced taking Communion.




Which even included a small sip of wine (!)




[She was not a fan of the wine and said she would do grape juice from now on.]



They practiced both "traditional" (kneeling around the altar) and "contemporary" (standing in line for intinction).


Just another reminder that my sweet baby girl is growing up!

Happy Anniversary Shout!

As mentioned in the previous post below, we celebrated 5 years of "Shout" on Sunday. For those of you who want to hear more, here is my "Intro" from Sunday Night:

In November of 2003, a small group of people here at First Lutheran sought a means to share their faith. We started with no pastor, no microphones, no communion, and even, as shocking as it seems, no snacks. Shout has no paid participants- only people with gifts they seek to share. The musicians, the prayer leaders, and the communion leaders provide a worship experience that we all enjoy, but those that choose to share their message make Shout a very special and unique experience.

Each week, individuals gather the courage to come forward to share how people have touched their lives, and how they live out their faith. We have heard about people who traveled to the gulf coast and Costa Rica to aid those in need, teachers who lift students in prayer, friendships established in the dark halls of middle school, the impact of Teens Encounter Christ weekends, people who have overcome addiction or who have provided service at a summer camp for kids with health care needs.

Tonight is a time to celebrate the gifts shared by those who make Shout special every week and those that open their hearts to share their message of His Message.

Five years later, we have more musicians, children, microphones and amplifiers, ample refreshments, and starting this evening, communion every week. In five years, we have baptized a baby, welcomed new members, celebrated the life of a woman named Ginny, and heard over 250 personal messages. You may have been here at the first Shout service five years ago, but tonight may be your first experience. Either way, may you be blessed in all that you hear and may you feel Christ’s presence among us. Welcome to Shout!

Our newest shout sister

Brooklyn, Zoe, Allie, and Allie all became "big sisters" on Wednesday, July 2nd when Brandon and Audrey Clendenin welcomed Callie Christine into the world. Brandon is a Shout worship leader at First Lutheran Church and the bass player of Grace Reigns Down. We are so excited about the newest addition to our "Family" and cannot wait to spoil this precious girl. Congratulations, Brandon and Audrey- you did well! :-)