One last snow day (I hope)

A couple of weeks ago we were enjoying 70 degree weather, playing outside as much as we could, going for walks, and just plain enjoying a taste of spring.  Turns out, that’s all it was, just a taste.  *Sigh*

The last few days it has been cold and snowing off and on.  Not much, just enough to leave a little white stuff on the grass and make everything all wet and muddy again.  My kids don’t understand why we can’t go outside.  They want to go to the park, they want to swing, slide, and go for a walk.  I hear about it all the time.  Poor kids.  Well, now they have decided they want to play in the snow.  I am fine with playing in the snow, except that this snow is so incredibly wet and sloppy, that it’s not really that fun to play in.  Besides that, there isn’t really that much of it to even have fun in and it is cold outside.  Gosh, I love this Nebraska weather!  (Did you catch the sarcasm in that???)

Well, today was another snowy day.  We went to my mom and dad’s this morning, with the plan of staying most of the day and finding something fun for the kids to do.  After we got there, it started snowing like crazy, and it was actually sticking to the ground…alot.  So, we decided to go get ice cream just to get the kids out of the house for a while and then head back home.  It’s only about a 40 minute drive from my parents to our house, but it was snowing pretty good and the roads were kind of slick, so we decided we needed to get home before it got colder and dark.  That decision made for four very unhappy kids.  They were not happy with Lee and I when we got home, and to make matters worse, they had napped on the way home, so we knew they would be up late tonight.  So, what do you do when you have four kids that want are bored, crabby and have lots of energy on a cold, snowy day?  You go outside and play in the snow, of course! 

It was wet.  It was sloppy.  It was pretty darn cold.   But, the kids didn’t mind a bit!  Evidently they really needed to play outside!  They had a great time and played for almost 45 minutes.  Hopefully, this will be our last snow of the year (please, God, please!). 

                                    

                                               Parker

                                                    Brett                                                       Cooper

                                                Kaden

 

Brett showing me his cold hands.  He hates it when his hands get cold!                              Kaden throwing a snowball at me

                                         

Cooper

                                  Parker refusing to look at me

                             Cooper and Parker hard at work                                  Brett filling up his cup

The same kid that was freaking out about his cold hands five minutes ago, decided to take his coat off!      Parker still refusing to look at the camera, but doesn’t she look cute?     Cooper hanging out on the 4-wheeler We had a great time playing in the snow, but we are so ready for spring!  I am excited for the day when we can go outside without putting on coats, hats, mittens and boots! 

Heaven Is For Real

I just got done reading the book Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo. If you haven’t read this book yet, do it!  It is awesome and really makes you think about where you are in your Faith.  In case you haven’t read the book, I am going to include the summary of the book that is written on the back of the book.

”When Colton Burpo made it through an emergency appendectomy, his family was overjoyed at his miraculous survival.  What they weren’t expecting, though, was the stroy that emerged in the months that followed-a story as beautiful as it was extraordinary, detailing their little boy’s trip to heaven and back. 

Colton, not yet four years old, told his parents he left his body druing the surgery-and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital while he was being operated on.  He talked of visiting heaven and relayed stories todl to him by people he met there whom he had never met in life, sharing events that happened even before he was born.  He also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, though he had not yet learned to read.

With disarming innocence and plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton tells of meeting long-departed family members.  He describes Jesus, the angels, how “really, really big” God is, and how much God loves us.  Retold by his father, but using Colton’s uniquely simple words, Heaven Is for Real offers a glimpse of the world that awaits us, where as Colton says, “Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses.”

Heaven is for Real will forever change the way you think of eternity, offering the chance to see, and believe, like a child.”

One part of the book that has really touched me is when Colton talks about meeting his sister in Heaven.  Colton’s mom lost a baby before he was born.  Colton tells his mom that he met his big sister in Heaven, and even tells her what his sister looks like. He also says that his sister is okay, because God adoped her. His mom is overjoyed to learn that the baby they lost was a girl, and that she is in Heaven waiting for them.  When his mom asks him what his sisters name is, he says she doesn’t have one because they didn’t name her.  They didn’t name her because they didn’t know if the baby was a boy or a girl. 

The relief that this story gave to me was huge.  When I got pregnant with my kids, we started out with 5 babies.  We lost one of our babies around 8 weeks. I’ve always thought that my baby is in Heaven waiting for me, but for me, this book confirmed what I believe.  I have always wondered whether that baby is a boy or girl, what he/she would look like today, what he/she would act like and how our lives would be with another kiddo.  It’s amazing how even though I have never met that baby, I still miss him/her like crazy.  I think about her alot.  I am so excited to go to Heaven someday and meet my baby.  I know he or she is up there waiting with God for me to come and finally give him or her a name.  Lee and I have talked about naming that baby, but I always have a hard time deciding what name I would pick just because I don’t know if the baby was a boy or a girl.  Now I feel like someday I will have the chance to give the baby a name and I have the peace of knowing that until I do get there, my baby has been adopted by God and is happy waiting for me in Heaven.