2 of my girls...lately

Preslie is over 9 weeks old now. She is such a sweetie. Still can't figure out who she looks most like. We are thinking maybe James uncle Wesley's fam.


Here's burrito baby PJ. We swaddle her in t-shirt material b/c is it cooler than flannel. I went to Wally World and got a few yards to make a few blankets and that is what we use. I didn't even finish the edges and they still work great.



This is another classic Chuckie baby Lucy pic. I guess Shelby took it b/c it wasn't me or James. She has that look mastered!! Scary! Click on it to Zoom in for a fright!



I tried and tried to get Lucy to pose in this adorable outfit and this is a good as it gets. Allyson sent me this actually for Preslie, but it fits Lucy right now. It is one of the most precious outfits I have ever seen. I love the material! She got it from Lassie Girl at etsy.com. Her daughter and friends' daughters are models for Lassie Girl and Allyson is the photog.


Ugh! So stinking cute!!!

"Wake- up the kids," says Papa...

The other night after lights out when the kids were almost asleep Papa called and said they were in our driveway and we had to bring the kids down. He said they found something cute in the Bird House room ( the guest room) and the kids would really want to see it. So we dragged them downstairs and this is what he had...a tarantula in a plastic jar. He had actually found it in their backyard climbing up the wall. He scared Shelby to death by acting like he was going to open the jar. Jesse did open it and almost poured him out in his own head. I know that they are supposed to be harmless, but they are UGLY!


Samson wanted in on the action too. Ugh...freaky!

wiggle it, just a little bit!

Shelby was so excited about her loose top tooth today she could hardly stand it. In true Shelby fashion, you'd think she was about to give birth with the anticipation she felt. "Mom, When is it going to come out...I just want to know...Help me!" She begged me all morning to pull it. I tried several times and failed. But finally...play the video...



And then, also in true Shelby fashion, she was sad it was out. "Mom, why are my gums so pointy? It looks so freaky!" She is afraid people will make fun of her or she won't be able to eat. I assured her that anyone who has ever lost a tooth understands how she feels and if people do make fun of her they really just wish they would lose a tooth too.

gluttons for punishment

Don't let the long face fool you. She was giddy about helping me make the "naughty jar." We got this idea from Creative Correction by Lisa Welchel. I wrote down a bunch of small chores that I don't like doing and rarely get around to, but need to be done and put them in a jar. The kids will be pulling out a chore from the naughty jar as discipline for certain behaviors that we are working on.

The current biggest issue we are dealing with and behavior we are training on is doing all things with arguing or complaining. Philippians 2:14. There is a lot of "AAWWWWWW, do I have to? Can't I just have 3 more minutes? But, Mom, we just started..." There is also much sighing and stomping from my almost 5 year old. It seems like we revisit this one several times a year. So this is how the "naughty jar" works:
When they are asked to do something (clean-up, brush teeth, come downstairs, get in the bath) and they say, "Yes, Mom or Dad," and do it right away...the first time... they get a tally toward a reward. When they complain, argue, whine, sigh, or roll eyes, they have to recite Phil. 2:14 and then grab a chore out of the naughty jar to do in addition to whatever it was we were asking them to do. (No, they will not always be rewarded for first time obedience, nor will they always and forever pull a chore out of the naughty jar when they complain.) The expectation is that after this focused training, first time obedience will become second nature. Once they have mastered this we will work on another behavior. We may have to continue to revisit it from time to time, as do all parents with most behaviors, but as it becomes second nature the attitudes will come less and less. Disrespectful teenagers and young adults are miserable to be around. Trust me, working in the public school & youth ministry with some disrespectful teenagers and getting to know their parents revealed to me right away where the root of the problem was, and it wasn't with the kids. If there is anything I can do to train my kids to be respectful of authority, I will do it.

So how are they gluttons for punishment? Ever since I told them about this plan, they have been sighing or saying, "AWWW, Mom..." on purpose just to test the result. I know they are testing because they have a smile on their face. That's okay, kids love boundaries so I will play along. Each time I have them say Philippians 2:14 and then pick a chore to do. So far in the past hour and a half they have cleaned the baseboards, windexed the windows, cleaned out the microwave, wiped down all of the door knobs with anti-bacterial wipes, cleaned the sliding glass door, and picked up the yard debris. They are laughing and singing all the way today as they do it. We'll see how it works when they experience it for real. For now, the house is looking pretty good!

Preslie at 2 months

Preslie is two months old tomorrow. She is changing so quickly now. She still sleeps most of the day away, but when she is awake she is more interactive. She has her longest "awake" period from about 8-9:30 pm. I don't think it is a coincidence that the others go to bed at 8! They overstimulate the poor little thing. She smiles, sticks her tongue out at us and makes sweet baby sounds trying to talk. My mom discovered that she loves it when we whistle, so we have been doing a lot of that. She puckers her lips and tries to imitate us. It is really cute. We are getting a lot more sleep when we actually go to bed on time b/c she only wakes once to eat and that isn't usually until 3am or so.

School has been back in full swing since last Monday and while the days are not perfect, we are keeping a pretty consistent routine. I have to give myself two thumbs up for homeschooling with 4 kids with one being a newborn. Kudos to me! Is that prideful? Maybe, but I know that I couldn't do it without God. He is the one who gives me the strength and stamina to press on even when it is hard. I'd have given up a long time ago if not for his Spirit within me spurring me on. I am so weak on my own. My willpower will not sustain me. I know that am doing the work He has called me to do and that He wouldn't call me to a task that He won't empower me to accomplish. In this lies my strength on the difficult days.

Lu Lu Lu Lucy and the cat...

Still madly in love...still crazy insane about this cat. She adores Samson. For some reason, though, the other day she bit his tail really hard. {{EEEWWWWWW}} I heard a screech and ran in to find her biting the tip of his tail. Poor cat hid from her for the first time and licked his tail for quite a while. They are buds again already.

Preslie be the name of my girl...

Shelby and I wrote a new song to sing to Preslie...She wrote the chorus. Clever girl! {{No disrespect intended. We often change praise songs into regular ones and vice versa.}}

Preslie be the name of my girl
Preslie be your name
Preslie be the name of my girl
Prelsie be my precious baby's name

you eat and sleep all day
you eat and sleep all day
my heart will choose to say
Babe, Preslie be your name

Preslie be the name of my girl
Preslie be your name {{ P J }}
Preslie be the name of my girl
Preslie be this precious baby's name

Joy...

is mentioned over 200 times in the bible. One of my favorite scriptures about joy is 1 Peter 1:8-9,

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

There are so many days in my busy life that I get so lost in the small details, tasks, appointments, chores & errands that I do not feel joy. I allow myself and my emotions to be controlled by my situation & my schedule. Everything I have to do takes precedence over en-joy-ing my life. I sometimes feel like I have forgotten how to enjoy life.

Last night I walked to the library with a friend. She, unknowingly, said something to me that kept me up much of the night. She said that she read somewhere that we should be "Masters of Joy" in our homes. There should be much laughter, singing, playing and enjoying life, instead of a constant stream of tasks ad to-do lists. You know, I have heard this advice given so many times and even said it myself in different ways, but never as "Masters of Joy." I kept repeating it over and over in my mind until I fell asleep. I prayed that God would restore joy in my life and that I would be able to pass it on to my kids.

They are undoubtedly going to learn a lot over the years from my behavior about scheduling their time, budgeting their money, and getting many things accomplished in a day, but will they learn to "Enjoy Life?" Will they see joy, feel joy and understand what it looks and feels like? I want them to. I want to show them that I enjoy them, because I do. I want them to see me enjoying my husband's company, b/c I do. I want them to see me enjoying my Lord, because I most certainly do.

They have seen me enjoy life over the years, it's not like I am a depressed or undemonstrative. But, when I have a newborn, I always get overwhelmed the first few months with all of the changes and I get really out of whack. Everything does seem like a long list of chores each day and there is a lot of "just getting through until nap" and "let's just make it till bed time" type of thinking. I also feel guilty during this time b/c I convince myself that I may have done permanent damage with my task-master attitude the past few months.

But, the good news is that kids are surprisingly resilient. They are easily molded and re-molded. I made the commitment to be a Master of Joy last night and asked James to pray for me about it every day. ...the joy of the Lord will be my strength.
I got up with a fresh outlook and a plan. I am going to be fully-engaged with my kids during school-time. No phone or computer, and no chores. It will take will-power, but I can already see it making a difference in the the kids even after one day, so it is worth it. They were looking at me with fresh questioning eyes this morning as I sang and danced with them. The look in their eyes was pure joy. They have their mommy back and I am even more thankful than they are.

Amazing...the impact of one short comment made in passing on a walk with a good friend. Thanks, Chaundra.

Do you ever get in one of those moods...

when you know you have everything to be thankful for, but you just want to be a brat and complain? I have these moods fewer and fewer as I mature in age and in my relationship with the Lord, but they still rear their ugly heads every once in a while. Today I am in one of those moods. I am coming out of it, finally, but this has been a bad attitude UGLY morning, not because anything happened, just because I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I didn't even enjoy my trip to Wal-Mart {{ALONE}}. What is wrong with me? I kept running over and over in my mind all of the things I am tired of...I'll just enlighten you with that list so that you can feel better about yourself, and so I can look back at this day and remember how bratty I was...even at almost 36 years old.
Today, I am tired of:

Being tired
Being hot and sweaty
Being broke
Being strong
Being overweight
Being responsible
Planning my days
Wearing make-up
Eating salads
Not eating wheat
Cleaning & cooking
shaving my legs
scorpions
& most of all, my bad attitude.

I just got back from a 30 minute power walk (in the middle of the day...probably 105 degrees) and I feel much better. I listened to "Eternal" by Sanctus Real over and over. It is the song that is playing now. By the end of the walk I was half dancing, half skipping across the soccer fields back home. I think I sweated out a lot of my bad feelings. What do I really ever have to complain about? I have everything I have ever wanted. Thank you, Lord, for pulling me outside of myself to a place of gratitude!

Angel & Julia's Visit

I lovingly call Angel "My beautiful hippy chicken farmer friend." Time spent with her is truly one of the joys of my life. She knows me, gets me, takes care of me, showers me with love, affection and gifts, and scolds me when I need it. She is truly family to me. I don't know what I'd do with out her. This week she is in San Diego for her class reunion. I was supposed to meet her in LA for a few days of fun on the beach at my little sister's apartment, but it didn't work out. SO< she came to me! She and Julia made the 6 hour drive to AZ, getting up at 3:30 am to get here early and maximize our time together. They stayed one night and day and left last night. I hated to see her go. We had such a wonderful time.


The kids relished in the time they got with Julia. They have been friends with her ever since they were in the nursery together at church.Shelby and Julia were born 8 days apart. I remember the lovely preggo Angel giving me my first baby gift for Shelby and making me feel welcome at Cedar Ridge! Seems like yesterday and now the girls are almost 7!!


They went swimming at Noni and Papa's pool yesterday. Such fun!


Angel snapped this adorable naked car pic of Lucy and I had to include it. She isn't sad, just posing, as usual!

Angel LOVED Samson. I was afraid she might steal him. She even let him sleep with her and play with her earrings. She couldn't get enough of him, even snapping several photos of the boy!
Man, am I gonna miss her! But I am so happy for the sweet time we had.

Mother-Daughter Sleepover

Shelby's new sweet friend and neighbor, Brennan, had a mother-daughter sleepover birthday party at an awesome hotel with a water park on July 31. 4 little girls and their very happy mommas stayed together. We laughed a lot, ate yummy food, swam, slid down the slides, and had some much needed relaxation time. Shelby had a wonderful time with her new friends. I was so proud of her for jumping right in with them as if they'd been friends forever. The other girls have been friends for years, so I wondered if she'd feel left out. I enjoyed the mommas too. They are all homeschoolers and we had a lot in common. We are so thankful for that precious time!

Sidenote: The first time we met Brennan she told Shelby that she was an answer to her prayer. She said, "I have been praying for a new friend to move in close by that loves Jesus & He brought me you." How sweet is that?

too many choices...I need prayer

(Some) People are always worried about my kids b/c they are afraid that since I homeschool they will have no social skills. ((Have they met my kids, I wonder??))This whole notion is actually pretty common for public school advocates, although it has NO basis in truth. In fact, some of the most well-adjusted, well-mannered, well-spoken kids I know are from homeschooled families. They can even socialize across multi-age levels as well because they are not in a classroom with all kids their same age all day long every day. Having taught in the public schools James and I can safely say that we had at least a handful of socially backward, ill-adjusted kids in our classrooms every year, and they WERE public schooled. It has way more to do with their parents and with their inborn temperaments than where they go to school. How can my kids lack social skills coming from our home?? Tact, maybe, since James and I have a bent toward sarcasm and in-your-face truth. (Still growing in that area.) But I am an extroverted social butterfly, and you can be sure they will be involved in activities that will develop their skills.

Speaking of activities, I have way too many to choose from and I always tend to over schedule myself and then back out of everything when I get overwhelmed, so I need help deciding what to do. In Kansas, I never joined a homeschool group b/c my kids were younger and I had a few friends who homeschooled that I did most fieldtrips and activities with. Here, I did join one, and boy am I glad I did. I've made friends, the kids have made friends, and a whole new world has opened up to us. A world of opportunities that I bet would make those anti-homeschooling parents eat their words. So, here they are...I have heard about many other activities that are available, but these are the ones I am considering:

KONOS coop(character based curriculum for ages 4-8): Tuesdays 10-2pm
Homeschool PE: Fridays 9am
Music Appreciation for Elementary School Age: Thursdays 3pm
Swim and Art for girls: Mondays 3:30-5 pm
Bible study for Shelby: every morning 9am
Dance for homeschoolers: Thursdays 3pm
Soccer for Jesse: TBA

None of these are necessary, so I can't base my decision on that. I need to be somewhat protective of my time so that I cover everything I want to cover at home as well. I really just want to be open to placing them where the Lord would have me place them. I want them to be in enviromnments where they will make quality friends, explore their interests and talents and continue to develop their love of learning. I am praying for clear direction, guidance and discernment. I am praying for my mind to stop racing with all of the choices we have and settle on only the ones that I have peace about. Will you join me in prayer? I know many of my friends who read this are making the same decisions right now. Both homeschoolers and public-schoolers are faced with these decisions this time of year. May we all not over- schedule or overwhelm our kids or ourselves this school year! They are only kids once & we only have them under our wings for a short time...

look who is smiling now

Preslie started smiling this week. I love it when my babies meet this milestone! They go from being an eating, pooping, and sleeping machine to interacting with those around them. There is just nothing like that first smile. All of mine have smiled first at their Daddy, and PJ is no exception. She gave her Daddy her first toothless grin. She also smiled like crazy at Blaze (Shelby's newest friend) the other day. She must be something special to get my baby to smile so much!

The Jesus Storybook Bible

We are LOVING this book right now. The back of the book says, "The Jesus Storybook Bible tells the Story beneath all the other stories in the Bible. It takes the whole bible to tell the story. And at the center of the story, there is a baby, the Child whom everything would depend. From Noah to Moses to King David, every story whispers His name. Jesus is the missing piece in the puzzle -- the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together. The Jesus Storybook Bible invites children to discover for themselves that Jesus is at the center of God's great story of salvation -- and at the center of their story too."

This book makes the stories come a live in a way that I haven't seen in other children's bibles. It adds emotion and description to help penetrate their little hearts, rather that just report events like some of the other really basic ones we have read. I am learning right along with them about ways in which every story in the bible really does point to Jesus. Some of these stories I have read hundreds of times and not caught the symbolism & deeper meaning until reading this little book. God is so creative and His really story is a masterpiece. The more you read his word, the more alive it becomes. The new discoveries are never ending.

Another thing I love about this little book is the illustrations. They are beautiful! The color and drawing style make it even more rich. I have always adored illustrations in children's books, especially vintage ones. I will buy them and cut them up to frame my favorite pictures. This is one I'd do that with if I didn't care so much about preserving the story. Check it out!

Thrift Store SCORE!

There is a thrift store here called Family Attic whose proceeds support Crisis Pregnancy Center. We dropped a bunch of stuff off yesterday and browsed a bit. It is a really nice thrift store with quality merchandise. The have great deals on furniture that has been donated from a furniture store here in Phoenix. We got this armoire and 2 end tables that match for about 1/8 of the retail cost. There are only a few tiny nicks in it that you can barely see. SCORE!

Energy...

God has sent a few friends into my life that I absolutely adore and would be lost without. Soul Sisters, really. Carrie is one of those friends. She brings so much joy and energy into my life. I can be completely exhausted, ready to fall into bed, and then get a phone call from her that I walk away from energized and ready to conquer the world...(or at least my little corner of the world.)

She inspires me, holds me accountable to my values and goals, refuses to let me gossip or vent, prays for and with me, CRACKS me up, and encourages me. We have been friends for 10 years. We taught together in the same tiny classroom for 5 years at an alternative school where we really "grew up" side by side. During that time we also walked 3 miles together almost every morning before school and taught night school together. We spent about 14 hours a day together for 5 years...more time than we could ever spend with a spouse. There is so much of who I am today that I have to thank(or blame) her for.

When I think of her, along with my other dear soul sisters, and the new precious friends He is sending into my life I get choked up. His love overwhelms me as I see a little bit of His character in each of these ladies. He cares so much for us, provides every one of our needs and even fills all of our lonely places...not only with His Spirit, but with living breathing people who have warm arms to hug us with and bright eyes to see into the depths of our hearts.

The Lichtenberger's Est. 1997

Yesterday was our 12 Year Anniversary!! Woop Woop! 12 years of marriage plus 3 years of dating...We've really been together for 15 years. Boy does that sound like a long time! God has blessed our marriage in uncountable ways. His biggest blessing was saving us (at the same time) and calling us to follow him in every area of our lives. We have been through a lot and grown so much that we don't even look like the same people we were 12 years ago. He has brought us closer together and strengthened us through each other. It hasn't always been easy, but it has been worth it. The love and respect we have for one another is not a work of our own, but the Holy Spirit living inside of us. We have been given Grace and it makes it easier to show that grace to one another. I can't imagine my life without this man. I am so proud to call him Husband!


Here are 4 more blessings He has give us in the past 7 years!


I love you, James! Thank you for loving me for 15 years and being my dear husband for 12!!

Will Samson Survive?

Lucy is in love with Samson. She carries him around by any part of his body she can grab. She will hold him by the neck and then pat him with her other hand while saying in her deep little voice, "Gentle, gentle, soft, soft." That is what we are always saying to her when we fear for Samson's life..((No Animal Rights People, I still don't want your opinion.)) The funny thing is that every time we feel like she is being too rough and we take him from her he is purring happily like he enjoys the torture. He is one good cat!