50th Post

Wow, It's been a long stretch since I posted anything on here. First, there was Christmas up in Green Bay, and then we were in Kansas City for a week at the IHOP onething conference, which was so much fun! After that, life just kind of went on autopilot for a while. Lately, we've been considering moving to Milwaukee much more seriously, so I spent much of my online time searching Craigslist for homes to rent and reading up on the various neighborhoods there (because Milwaukee is known for being a pretty violent city with a lot of crime).

It's amazing how segregated the city is. The far northeast area is very well to do; the east side is hip, trendy, and composed mostly of college students or mid- to upper-income folks. Then there's downtown which, well, I think just has more bars and colleges. The N, NW part is the "worst part of Milwaukee." I don't know if it has that stigma because it actually is or because it's the African American section. Then you go south of 94 and it's like a whole other world: it's the Hispanic part. There's few areas where the three groups meet. I've heard there are large portions of Russians, Middle Eastern people, etc, but I'm not really sure where they are. We looked in two neighborhoods: East side was pretty much out because of the sky-high rates. Just over the river from the East Side is Riverwest, a very hippy, eclectic neighborhood that's got it's crime, but is also waaay cheaper and very convenient to everything. It borders "the hood" so there is spillover crime from that, plus, college kids come over the river to look for all their drug needs. We checked out some places there, and block by block was so different. One block we looked at a duplex on felt sort of sketchy. One block over and a few blocks down was a whole different feel. So strange. Most people say stay inside after dark unless you're in a group. Well, I feel that advice would apply no matter where I lived in Milwaukee, so whatever. I liked it there. I like living in a not all-white world. I don't want my girls growing up around only white people, because in the world, we're the minority, if not in this nation. Also, I want them to be safe.

The other neighborhood we're checking out next week is Bayview. It's mostly working class, and is a pretty cool area. I read somewhere that it's where all the "punks" are. Fewer students and more Hispanic. We drove through it yesterday, and I just really liked it a lot. But, then we thought. We have to come into O-town 5 days a week anyway, since my husband works for the church here and has a lot of meetings and stuff throughout the week; plus our daughter just started ballet here, AND we have this incredibly amazingly awesome deal on renting this house that is like 3 times the size of anything we could get in Milwaukee. But, it's still suburbia. Pros and cons to sort out. Maybe we'll move, maybe we'll wait, maybe we'll just commute. Only God knows. I just wish He'd let us in on what's up His sleeve for us sometime soon.

Ok, I'll have another post soon about a book I just read for Thomas Nelson. I got it for free for joining their blogging book review club, and I need to post my review before getting another book from them. Look for it soon. And please pray that we'd have insight and wisdom to know what to do about moving. Thanks!

My Bright Sunshine-y Baby

I can't believe my baby is 9 1/2 months old now! Didn't I just bring her home from the hospital like a couple of weeks ago? Wow! She is lively, for sure, and all my time is consumed with the lives of little curly haired blonde girls. Illiana Sunshine (which means Bright Sunshine) captured my heart, and I just had to share some photos of her that I took.

Loving the Little People

Playing with my belt

She's all about the arm-flailing

Sunshine in the Sunshine

How can I get anything done with someone so cute crawling around?

I love watching my girls investigate things

Ok, enough baby boasting! I love her and all my little girls! Here's a closing shot of Mae:

What a ham! And what a mess!

What was Lurking in Our Yard

Mushrooms are just gross to me, especially giant ones I've never seen before growing in our yard. However, the girls were totally fascinated with them and got a kick out of me kicking them over (no stupid pun intended, well maybe). I looked them up online, and I think they are what's called The Shaggy Mane. Here they are:

This makes them look really small, but they were not. Supposedly that black stuff around the edge of the opened one turns to this inky black goo that drips down. Nastiness becoming more nasty. I made sure they weren't around to do that.

Freakier en masse!

Ok, that's all for today's lesson in mycology.

Breaking the Silence

So, I haven't posted lately as life has been tremendously busy. I started homeschooling my preschooler last month, beginning to teach her how to read, memorize Bible verses, use scissors, write letters better, and sit still through longer stories like Winnie the Pooh and Beatrix Potter stories. Funny thing is, my 2 1/2 year old can sit still longer and more patiently than she can, so I think it's influencing her to want to do school more.

I have, however, been working on that empire waist sweater vest I mentioned last post, and have nearly completed it. But I get short increments here and there to work on it with all the craziness of our schedule lately. Our church is in the process of planting a church in downtown Milwaukee, and my husband is on the worship team at both our current church and the new church plant in Milwaukee--he plays bass, just so ya know. But, it's kind of cool, because just last weekend, we both, independently, felt God telling us to go to Milwaukee and be a part of this new church. It's funny, because prior to that, neither of us really felt called to there, but, like Psalm 37 says, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." He is placing that desire for Milwaukee there. Notice the tense of verb I used in that sentence...it's a work in progress. Someday we'd still like to go back to Madison and start a church there. We love Madison. And then to the nations. Someday.

Anyway, between busy Sundays, an awesome youth group (for which my husband is youth pastor) where God is doing some amazing things in the kids' lives, my husband's newest side job for a parachurch ministry, Campus Way (also working with young folks), and the delights and energy of three children all under age five, takes up most of our time. So, blogging has been slow for me lately. But I'm still here, breaking the silence.