May I Present to You....

Mr. and Mrs. Jason Muckel!!!!
Congratulations you guys! Have fun on your honeymoon!
What a great day! Izzy did wonderfully as a flower girl. We're tired, but had a great time!

Cars, Elmowear, Wedding, and Pictures

Well, we sold our Passat! I didn't think we would be able to because there was so much wrong with it- but we put it on craigs.list at about 10 pm Monday and had three emails by 9 am Tuesday, and it was signed off by noon! What a blessing! But, now comes the rush to find me a car! Paul is heading to the auto auction with a dealer friend to hopefully get us a Chrylser Pacifica! Otherwise I may choose a minivan...still not sure what we can get for our penny!

Izzy wants to know if everyone has clean elmowear on. All underwear is pronounced elmowear- very cute indeed! I'm proud to say I have clean elmowear on today! Though, I'll have to do some laundry to be able to say the same thing tomorrow!

I'm heading up to Pentwater tomorrow to help with last minute decorating and plans. Rehearsal dinner is Friday night, hair gets done at 7 am on Saturday, pictures at 9:30 (on the beach, please don't rain!!!) and the ceremony starts at noon. Reception at 1:30/2ish. Clean up, then present opening the next morning after church. Yikes. I can't believe my dad is still going to preach Sunday morning!

Here are some pictures from last week- we had a great time with the Session gang! Bubbles, sand box fun, egg hunt, crafts, and the beach were all a hit! At one point we had 8 kids up there under the age of 10!

A list

So much has happened, is going on, and is about to come forth that I decided to make this post a list to make my life (and your reading) a lot easier!

• My car is officially sick and not worth us fixing, thus we are now shopping for a new vehicle.
• Unplanned purchase of new vehicle this year may have to cancel plans to take a vacation with my hubby- this makes me very sad.
• Potty training is going well- accidents occur once every few days, she still only really goes when I tell her its time. She has told me in Meijer and TJMaxx that she has to go potty though.
• My sister got a job teaching 1st grade in Indiana. The didn't even do a second interview and she had two elementaries fighting over her! She ended up in the best elementary in the district!
• My sister also gets married on Saturday! This is super exciting and has made life quite busy. I've been making lots of trips up north to help out. All three of us are in the wedding party- boy, does that get expensive!
• I have an opportunity to maybe go on a missions trip to Bangladesh in November!!!!
• I may officially have the baby bug- but maybe only a slight case....I'll try to ease my axiousness for baby number two by enjoying other people's babies!

Maybe there will be more to come- I have to go give my hubby a hair cut.

• Izzy and I spent 5 days up at Paul's parent's cottage on Silver Lake while some out of state cousins were vacationing. We had a great time. I'll try and post pictures another day.
• I have not spent more than like 4 or 5 days in one place all month. I'm getting really tired of living out of suitcase and only coming home long enough to do laundry and repack.
• I REALLY want to go on vacation with Paul- we never really had a honeymoon- we need this...hopefully some good deals will come up.
• Praise the Lord for 3 condos closing in the next two weeks!
• Is anyone else having a hard time (near impossible) sticking to your grocery budget? Yikes!
• Is July 4 really right around the corner? Isn't that like the halfway through summer point? Can't be possible- I'm just getting used to this weather!

Well thats all for now- enjoy your day- for it is one the Lord has made! Rejoice in it!

Potty Training Devotion

Here I am simply one week into potty training. It has gone pretty well, with its ups and downs. I finally came to this conclusion on Saturday night...

Isabelle knows what to do, but doesn't do it.

Everytime I put her on the potty she goes! She is pleased with herself. However, if I forget to take her to the potty, or she had to go again less than a half hour later, she wets herself. She knows what to do when I sit her on the potty. She knows what potty is. She understands the process. But, in her immaturity or in the midst of a distraction (something more interesting is happening) she doesn't realize her need for the potty and so she wets herself. She knows that she has gone potty and knows that she needed to sit on the toilet, but either chose not or she isn't aware of the urge to go. Well, since this whole process has suddenly consumed much of our time together and much of my thoughts, I began to think...uh oh....never good! Haha.

I thought about how many times in my own life or I've seen in the lives of others that we know exactly what to do, but just don't do it! I thought of a few things in particular:

Losing Weight- EVERYONE knows the key to weight loss is a healthy, controlled diet and exercise. I know what it takes to lose weight- but I don't do it. I don't always eat healthy and rarely "have time" to exercise.

Quiet Time- Most Christians know what a quality spiritual life looks like and knows that it involves personal quiet time with the Lord. I know that great elements of this personal study and development of my relationship with Christ involves getting into God's Word- the Bible, prayer, worship, etc. I know it takes devotion and time and setting it as a priority. I know how to have quiet time, but how often do I actually do it? Yikes thats a spanking if I've seen one. How embarassing as a Christian to know exactly what I need to do to further my relationship with Christ, but don't do it. Ok, with that thought I'm going to go huddle in the corner and cower!

Lo and Behold, these thoughts came to me Saturday night when I was up at my parent's house for the weekend. I went to my parent's church the next morning looking forward to hearing my dad preach. What do you know but my dad preached on a passage in James chapter 4- these verses in particular:

13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

Well, I was immediately drawn to verse 17 "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." My dad used this verse to explain the sin of ommission. He talked about how we try to cut out God by deliberate action or concious inaction. Wow- Ok God, why do I get the feeling you may be trying to teach me something? How often do I pass by a person in the line at the grocery store and don't even say a word to them when I might be the only shining example of Christ they see that day? Why do I not obey those promptings of randomly giving someone in need something? To think that my lack of action could be a sin is a tremendous thought.

As I sat in the pew with an internal discipline session going on in my head, I was encouraged by this verse:

John 13:17

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

If I deliberately cut out God by my actions or inaction, I am sinning. But if I obey His promptings and DO the things I know I should, I will be blessed. Quite the extreme. Quite the motivation.

While my thoughts are still being fine tuned and this blog is certianly not the extend of all that has gone on in my little head the past couple of days, I feel as though I have learned a very important lesson. Thanks to my potty training devotion, I have become aware of my inaction and I am bound and determined to do something to fix it.

Survey

Four jobs I have had in my life:
Waitress
Short Order Cook
Dining Commons Manager
Subsitute Teacher

Four movies I would watch over and over:
Beauty and the Beast
Anne of Green Gables Series
Shrek
My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Four places I have lived:
Only Four????
Blissfield, MI
Caledonia, MI
Mishawaka, IN
Byron Center, MI

Four TV shows I watch:
House
Bones
The Office
American Idol

Four places I have been recently: How recently? Hmm...we'll say 6 months
Pentwater, MI
Mishawaka, IN
Schoolcraft, MI
Silver Lake (mears, MI)

Four of my favorite foods:
Mac and Cheese
Ice Cream
Lasagna
Chicken Wraps

Four Places I'd rather be right now:
On Vacation with Hubby
Shopping
Garage Sales
Heaven

Four things I look forward to:
Potty training to be over
Vacation with Husband and husband only (the honeymoon we never had!!!)
Sister's Wedding
Being pregnant again! (not yet, maybe the near future)

Brain Surgery and Potty Training

You wouldn't think the two would go together..but alas they do!

Dad Spica's brain surgery (the first of two surgeries for his parkinson's" was a success yesterday. While we ourselves won't see the success for about 6 weeks- the doctor said that as soon as they put the probes into the left side of his brain, his right and foot immediately relaxed and stopped shaking. These probes were inserted on either side of his brain and then turned off until pacemakers are put in place.

We have been praying very specifically as a family that these surgeries would be so successful that the doctors could only explain it by a supernatural power. We got a huge answer to that yesterday. The doctors have warned mom and dad that the only parkinson's symptom that does NOT go away after this surgery is the slurred speech. Well, wouldn't you know that as they put the probes in yesterday dad's speech immediately cleared up! Doctors were pretty baffled from what I've heard! We are anxious and excited to see these results for ourselves in about 6 weeks. Thank you for your prayers- his next surgery is June 13 to put in the pacemakers and connect them to the probes. They will then be turned on in the doctor's office on July 10th.

So what does Brian Surgery have to do with Potty training? Well, for two reasons I decided to start potty training Izzy yesterday. 1) She has been very curious about the potty and she seems ready and 2) I'm stuck at home until Saturday morning for the most part. First and foremost I have not at all been motivated to this part of child rearing. I don't mind diapers, I like the freedom that diapers bring. Not a big deal! Well, I know it has to be done sometime, and she did seem interested so I thought it might go better. Let's just say I think we had a very successful first day. Izzy went on the potty 3 times! One time was unprompted by me. She only had one accident all day, and it was my fault because I was talking to Paul at the dinner table and didn't hear her say "Pa" aka Potty. I would be so blessed if she continues on this path! Whohoo!!! Maybe I'll have potty trained girl by the wedding (my sister gets married the 28th). We'll see what happens- one step at a time!