Lesson's From My Children: {Being Intentional}

For me, one of the best things about being a mom is seeing the individual gifts that God has given each of my children. They are all so very different and Jason and I enjoy the challenge of helping them grow these gifts. 

As I was going through some of my many photos I found these of my middle boy, Ky. He is 6 and is gifted in so many ways. 

One of my favorite gifts that my boy has been abundantly blessed with is how intentional he is with everything in life.

He loves deeply.

He protects fully. 

He is deliberate.

Patient.

Steadfast. 

He goes out of his way to help his baby sister. 

Just after she was born he saw her for the first time in the hospital and he said, "Mom, I'm her 'tector." (meaning protector)

At the age of four he made that promise and he lives it out everyday.

He is also extremely patient with both his little brother and his little sister.

Sure, he does reach his limit from time to time but overall he does really well. 

He also values your time and openly shows his appreciation for it. 

No matter what the activity - whether it is helping me cook, doing "man stuff" with his dad, ory even curling up and watching a movie - he deeply values the time you are spending with him. 

He often says, "I just want to spend time with you."

Ky is a great son and such a blessing to our family. 

I am constantly amazed by the lessons that I learn on a daily basis from my children. And Ky's continual lesson to me is to always be intentional. 

Be intentional with your time. 

With your relationships. 

With your passions. 

And with your promises. 

I love that. 

And I love you Ky James for always being my reminder. 

Photo of the Day: {kissing fish}

{kissing fish}

I am not really sure how this all transpired and I am pretty sure I do not want to know. Just in case you are wondering, Creide didn't actually kiss the fish - at least I don't think he did.

Accomplishments: {Ready, Set, Swing!}

Do you remember when you learned to swing? I do not remember the exact moment but I do remember the freedom I felt once I did achieve this accomplishment.

I no longer had to rely on the generosity of others to give me a push. I could swing for as long and as high as I wanted to. I remember closing my eyes and pretending I was flying - the cool summer breeze hitting my face as I moved back and forth. I loved to swing.

Ky accomplished the art of swinging solo this past week and as I watched him move back and forth pumping his legs I imagined that he too was feeling some of the same things that I felt when I was his age.

I watched the intensity on his face - intensity mixed with joy and pride. He had done it. He mastered the swing.


 

Funny of the Day

It's me again! Sorry for the lack of contact - in response to the question one of my friends always asks me when I go underground - no, I have not been abducted by aliens. I am still just trying to figure out how to do this recover from cancer with four kids thing... Just when I think I am starting to get some stuff figured out something rocks the Gressman boat and I feel like I have to start over. I am not complaining (or meaning to sound "complainy") it has just been a process.

Anywhoo... I do have a funny of the day for you that I could not resist sharing. It is actually from my 6 year old. He is my quiet one and most like his daddy. Thoughtful, sweet, and definitely a protector. Yep, sounds just like my hubs through and through. 

He wants to be a soldier when he grows up and he loves policemen, although when he sees them in public he gets really shy. We were in a nearby town a few months back eating at a Subway and a couple of them came in to eat as well. He stared at them for the longest time and finally my hubby took him over there to introduce him. They ended up letting him sit in both of their cars and run the lights and all. They did draw the line when he started asking about their shotgun that was installed in the front seat. He actually asked them if it was their rocket launcher. LOL. It was a cool experience for him nonetheless. 

He is amazing with his baby sister. I know I have shared the story of when she was born and he said, "I am her 'tector." He will stop in his tracks to help her in some way. The other day I heard him say to his little brother, "We don't let Kearyn (baby sister) cry. Whatever she wants - give it to her." Lord have mercy. 

Anyway, for this "funny of the day" I have to share my secret shame. I have a slight obsession with shows like Forensic Files, Cold Cases, etc. In fact, if God wouldn't have called me to be a wife and a mother that is probably what I would be doing but I like where He put me instead. 

So, I was watching an all new type of forensics show that I found on Netflix (yay me!). My 6 year old came in at the end and heard that the bad man was sentenced to 100 years in prison. My boy's eyes got wide and he said, "100 years, wow mom, that is a long time. Will he even live that long?" I explained the situation and said no, that he would just serve the remainder of his life in prison. He said, "Well, do they feed them or do they starve." I said no, they feed them. He said, "Do they feed them broccoli?" I couldn't help but to laugh at that one. In a 6 year old's mind there is not greater punishment than going to jail AND having to eat broccoli.

Happy Friday!

Andrea

{brotherly love}

For those of you who have boys you will understand what I am talking about. There is just this "brotherly love" that you cannot begin to explain. Recently we were at the park and I had an opportunity to document what I am talking about. I took this chance to show those of you who don't know what true brotherly love is all about. Here you go.... 

Favorite September Moments.... {part 1}

It seems like September has just flown by! I cannot believe that it is almost over. I did not do much blogging in this month. We really just tried to take some time to hunker down and enjoy the calm before the storm so-to-speak.

There have been some wonderfully amazing moments throughout this month and I just wanted to share a few of them with you...

1.{School}

As some of you know we homeschool our children. I prayed about this decision more this year than ever before for obvious reasons. But each time I really started to try to think about another option I just felt God saying It's going to be okay.... 

I was nervous for a couple of reasons.... 1.) I have cancer. Okay, so there isn't a lot of discussion needed there. 2.) I have a Kindergartner again. 3.) This Kindergartner has a very different learning style than my first Kindergartner. 4.) My first Kindergartner hasn't been in Kindergarten for many years now. 

But I have really tried to do everything I can do throughout my cancer to keep things as normal as possible and doing school at home is normal for us. I also found myself some awesome new curriculum (thanks to Mrs. B., Cale's writing class teacher) and this program has a nice, tidy little schedule so I didn't have to worry about doing that this year and I also have a rockin' husband who really does a wonderful job teaching the kids as well. I am blessed.

So, we started school and soon my nervousness melted away and I realized all over again why I do this, how much I love it, how much the kids love it, and once again.... I am blessed. I just feel so blessed that God has graciously given me the strength to do this only 2 months post chemo. It really is a miracle. And I just wanted to share our first completed project of Kindergarten 2011. 

A is for......

Thank you Ky for being such a wonderful student. It has already been such a joy to be your teacher. No only 25 more letters to go. 

Things That Make Me Happy..... Part 3

My middle boy... One look from those blue eyes of his and he will melt your heart. There are so many things to love about this little man. Even though he is rough and tough on the outside he has this amazingly tender heart... you should see him with is baby sister. And even though he is nearly {six}....he still climbs up in my lap to snuggle with me.


Now if these don't make you happy I don't know what will! 

Funny of The Day

So, it has been a while since I have posted a funny of the day. It isn't like they haven't been happening.... are you kidding we are the Gressman's.... something is always happening around our house. Usually Creide is the  one generating all of the funnies lately. Cale being 11...excuse me...almost 12....is far too cool to do anything that anyone could possible laugh at him for. It is like living with a professor....Beuller...Beuller... Okay, so I couldn't resist.

(Sorry for the poor picture quality but this was the only one I could find that had the entire scene but wasn't ridiculously long either.)

I know, I know, it is so mean of me to tease my 11 year old...I mean almost 12 year old like that but if I can't get a little enjoyment out of these "pre-teen" years then what's the point?

Anyway, Ky is like his dad....only wants to talk about "Vivor Man" - aka "Survivor Man" or "Man vs. Wild" and then he makes these things out of objects he finds around the house, around the yard, really anywhere. I am constantly finding these little spears all over - basically a stick with something taped to the end of it - like a fork, or some other sharp object that he shouldn't be playing with. Yesterday he was carting around this homemade bow and arrow. I didn't think anything of it until Jason said, "Uh, that works." What do you mean it works? How does my 5 year old know how to make a bow and arrow that works!....... Jason!!!!

I do always just want to ask Ky if he really gets lost in the wilderness if he would actually have tape with him but then he would just give me one of those looks with those big blue eyes. You know the one that says, "Silly Mom, whatever are you talking about....of course I would have duct tape...who doesn't have duct tape," and then you, as the adult, feel totally ridiculous for even brining it up. Maybe that only happens in my household.

This is pretty much the look I would get. 

Followed by this look....

....as he casually takes a drink to rub in my silliness for asking such questions.

Anyway, back to the funny of the day....

Creide was telling me that he felt his cat needed a change. The conversation went something like this....

Creide: "Mom, I think my cat needs a change."

Mom: "Oh really, what kind of change would that be?"

Creide: "Well, I think she needs to be more boy-like."

Mom: "But she is a girl."

Creide: "Yeah, but I want her to be a boy."

Mom (realizing the boy vs. girl argument was pointless with a 3 year old at this point): "So, how are you going to make Piper (the cat) more 'boy-like'?"

Creide: "I am going to paint her green. Green is a boy color." 

Mom: "But cats don't like to be painted green."

Creide: "She does."

Don't worry - we stopped him before he could actually paint the cat green. ***No animals were hurt in the making of this blog.***

Another Song Close to My Heart..........MADAGASCAR 2 'BIG AND CHUNKY' VIDEO WITH LYRICS

This is a song that I have been meaning to share with you for a while as it is one that we often sing around our house. I finally just had to do it because randomly Ky broke out in song only he sings the line as "I like them FUNKY". It is so darn cute! For all of you who know Ky and his big blue eyes, imagine him singing "I like them big, I like them round, I like them funky....." and doing a little dance all the while. If that doesn't make you laugh, I don't know what will.

Happy Birthday Jason.....

Yesterday was Jason's birthday. I have to tell you that I had so much fun planning his special day. I love birthdays so much because it is just a great opportunity to show that person how much they mean to you and this was no exception.

We love Jason dearly as he is the most amazing husband and father that we could have ever asked for. God truly blesses us every day with his presence in our lives and our home. I was just telling Cale the other day as we were having one of our "heart to hearts" that if he grew up to be just like his dad he would be just fine in life. :-)

Jason does an incredible job of modeling to our boys what a Godly man, loving husband, and engaged father is suppose to look like. He is just amazing and there are no words to describe how much we love him.

With that being said I wanted to create a special birthday present for Jason. Something that would combine the things that he loved and most importantly something that couldn't be purchased in a store. So, I put this together in a frame for him that will soon find its home in his office. (If you happen to stop by there you can take a look.)

This is Jason's favorite scripture by the way. If you are one of his youth group kids you already know that! :-)

the gressman four....

I think there is a point with the addition of each child that I have said to myself...."Wow, I have X number of kids now..." You just get so use to taking care of one child, then two, then three that when you add another one there is a bit of an adjustment period. These are the first pictures I remember taking of all four of my children together. And let me tell you it was quite interesting as you can probably tell from the pictures! ;-) (And these are only about half of the pictures taken! :-)

I have always dreamed of having four children. I believe that it was a promise placed in my heart long ago by God himself. This promise was what got me through all of the hard times and all of the losses. Don't get me wrong, there were several times when I did just want to give up but as I stare at the faces of my four beautiful children I thank God with all that I am that I did NOT give up. I can't imagine living my life not knowing each of these precious little ones that God has so graciously blessed me with. Thank you God for my Cale, my Ky, my Creide, and my Kearyn.

Free collage customized with Smilebox

Stay tuned for more conversation on the adjustment to having four children....

ky & creide....

These were taken at the Ouray Hot Springs on Cale's birthday. Just thought I would share the pictures...

This digital collage created with Smilebox

Gressman Family Fun...

One of the things that we love to do as a family is go for walks and hikes as a family. It is great to get outside, stretch our legs and discover great treasures that the boys always seem to discover. The boys are so much fun to watch when they are doing their thing. Here are a few casual pictures Jason took on one of our walks/hikes.

This free digital collage made with Smilebox

Good times!

Gressman Boys - 2010

These were taken just after we moved into our new house. :-)

This collage generated with Smilebox

Memories 1 and 2.....finally here!

So, for all of you who were wondering what happened to the ten part series on my memories of Ky, I am so very sorry. Some of you may know but we were all sick and had been sick for about two weeks and with three days to go until Ky's birthday my body just kind of gave out and I needed sleep! So, I ended up going to bed extremely early for about three days straight in order to be up and around during Ky's birthday. Being that I am a night owl that is when I do most of my writing so my writing just didn't get done.

We are all doing better now. There is still an occasional cough and a sore throat here and there but we are doing far better then we were for a while there. 

On to complete the 10 part series......

For those of you who were not reading along, Ky's 5th birthday was October 30th. With 10 days to go I decided I would write about my 10 favorite memories of my sweet boy. I completed all the way through memory number 3 before my fatigue caught up with me. So, here are memories number 2 and number 1. 

Memory #2....

One of my favorite things is when the boys decide to dress themselves. It is always when their own individual personalities come out. One of the best times is when he decided to wear his mud boots to Wal-mart on a perfectly sunny day! :-) 

Love this!

My #1 memory....

Ky is all boy. Yet, he has a softer side to him as well. He absolutely loves animals and he absolutely loves babies. This really came out when we were expecting our little girl, Kearyn. He just couldn't wait for her to arrive. He was the first one of his brothers to snatch her up in the hospital and from the moment we brought her home he was constantly wanting to hold her. I remember her just being a couple of days old and he was holding her sitting next to me on my bed. He looked down at her and then up at me and said, "Mommy, I'm her tector (protector)." My heart melted. "Yes you are Ky.....yes you are."

Ky....

Kylind, or Ky as we affectionately call him, arrived on October 30th nearly five years ago in Fairbanks, Alaska. Every since we found out we were going to have him he has been such a huge blessing to us.

There are so many things about our middle son that are hard to explain. He has the most amazing blue eyes that you can literally get lost in. Even though he has this rough and tough demeanor on the outside he is actually extremely thoughtful and caring (a lot like his dad.) Lately he has become a lot more sensitive and gets his feeling hurt far more then he once did. He loves babies, which was a huge surprise to me, and he is very sensitive to animals. If he thinks an animal doesn’t have a home he is the first one to want to adopt it. He absolutely adores his baby sister and says that he is her “tector” (as in protector) and I don’t doubt it for a minute. I pity anyone who tries to mess with Ky’s baby sister.

From the minute his sister was born he has had a comfort level with her that is just
so amazing to me. He will pick her up and put her on his shoulder and just pat
away without a worry even though I am a nervous wreck fearful that he is going to
drop her. He always gives me these funny looks as I am doing acrobatic moves to
ensure my hands are just in the right place just in case. Yet, he has never dropped her, never even bobbled her. He just has this confidence with her that is beyond his years. This always makes me smile because I think of what a wonderful daddy he will be someday.

One of my favorite things about Ky are his questions. He has the most thoughtful
questions and he will just rapid fire them at you whether you know the answers or
not. I also love his chubby little hands with his dimpled knuckles, especially
watching him fold them together with squinted eyes as he prays. He has become
so thoughtful in his prayers and his relationship with God and this has been so wonderful to watch. One day he looked at me with those deep
blue eyes and said, “You know mom, God is in charge.” All I could do was chuckle at him
and say, “Yes He is Ky....yes He is...."

Even though Ky just has this natural popularity about him and he just draws
people to him he is actually relatively shy. He gets embarrassed easily and does not like doing things in front of others if he isn’t absolutely 100% sure of himself. Again, all of this reminds me so much of his dad.

When I think of Ky, I think of the following scripture.... "Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior." Psalm 24:3-5 Ky just has this way about him that is so pure and innocent. His wonderful questions are such a reflection of this. He looks up at you with those big crystal blue eyes and you can't help but to see goodness. You can't help but to imagine what looking in the eyes of Jesus might be like. In my heart I can't imagine it being far off then lookin in the eyes of my dear sweet boy......

We are the Gressman's.....

We are the Gressman's....Jason-31, Andrea-31, Cale-10, Kylind "Ky"-4, Creide-2, and Kearyn-2 months. Yes, we are a family of 6 which from the reactions I get in the grocery store seems to be something of a rarity these days.

The first thing and most important thing we can say about our family is that we absolutely love the Lord. We do our best to serve as a family whenever we can. Our family motto: "Serve One as one." The story of how God revealed that to us will be told at another time.

Jason is a youth pastor and I work part-time for the church as an event coordinator. We love both positions. The kids that God brings into our lives each week on either a Wednesday or Thursday night for youth group are absolutely amazing. We do our best to love them as Christ loves us. This task is easy and challenging all at the same time but we embrace it as we know God has called us to do this.

Our children are amazing as well. Truly miracles from God and each and everyday I look at them and I am overwhelmed that God would entrust them to me. I am so grateful that God chose me to be their mom. I am truly left speechless and overwhelmed. Each and everyday I feel so blessed to have the husband that I have, the three handsome boys that I call "my sons" and my beautiful baby girl. Yes indeed, I am blessed.

We are the Gressman's.....