Italy Day 3 {Cinque Terre}
3 years ago
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
It’s been awhile
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Take me out to the ball game!
The little mister has been busy playing baseball for the past week or so. Tonight he got to play in a few different positions….he started out in the outfield…here he was tracking down a ball that ended up going over the fence and being a homerun
Then he got moved to 3rd base…..He’s never played there before, so he had a look of not quite sure what/where he was suppose to stand. He did fine…It’s hard to imagine my chunky baby boy has grown into that long legged skinny little boy :-)
He made a couple of good hits when he was up to bat….not his best game but he did try his best and that’s all that matters!
He also got a chance to play by the pitching machine and actually stopped a would-be line drive…even though it didn’t quite make it into his mitt, he stopped it with his arm and almost got the player out at first…still a great try!
He also took his turn at sitting out in the dug out as they have one too many players for the outfield…but he’s a good sport and doesn’t mind….This a picture from where he was sitting in the dug out and summoned me to ask me to get him a bottle of water as he already had downed his Gatorade. How could you refuse anything he asked with those baby blues flashing their charm….
So water it was! Griffin’s team lost 18-4, I told him, it’s not about winning, it’s about making friends and encouraging each other to do their best and most of all having FUN and he has great coaches that are making that is happening for the boys.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
#21 Days 4 Sons – Day 2 Obedience
#21 Days 4 Sons Day 2 - Obedience
“Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” –Ephesians 6:1-3
Moms, we MUST teach our sons to obey us. Obedience and submission to authority is a normal part of
life. For the rest of their days, our sons will have to submit to someone or something. Even if your son
becomes the CEO of the biggest, most powerful company (or country) in the world, he will still have to
answer to his Maker, God. Training them now to respect authority and submit to it sets them up for success
of the greatest kind. –Brooke L. McGlothlin, Warrior Prayers
Why Obedience is Important for Boys:
“Ladies, if your man cannot submit to Jesus, he cannot lead you. A man must be willing to be led before
he can truly lead.”
**Remember I said I would be praying these prayers over my son as well as my daughter’s future husbands, I found it a God-incidence that quote was included in the study today….
Obeying is not an option, it is a command. I always tease my children that my favorite verse from the bible is Ephesians 6:1 “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right” (well I’m not teasing it is one of my favorites, how can you just pick one favorite verse?) This verse is so encouraging that God has your back in parenting….He gave a command to children and backed it up with this is right. When my children have their moments of questioning of “why” they have to do something…I quote this scripture and tell them…. because God said so, I didn’t make up the rules, I just obey them and they are to obey too :-)
Do you have a plan for teaching your children obedience? Or are you more of a ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ kind of a parent?
Ouch! That question kind of struck home with me? I am all about discipline but I have to admit that I am totally a “fly by the seat of your pants” kind of a person. This is the 2nd or 3rd time in one week that I have read/study scripture on obedience/discipline. He is revealing to me that when I walk in obedience he will sort out all the disorder/chaos that comes with disobedience and that I need to be disciplined in my life in order to be obedient. How can I expect my children to be disciplined and obedient, if I am “flying by the seat of my pants”. I tend to fly by the seat of my pants with all the things we are involved in, I’ve never thought about that flowing over into “my parenting” but I’m realizing that everything I do flows over into parenting as our children are a reflection of their parents. Disciplining my children in my mind is you teach them on daily basis and when the situation arises you discipline them. I have never thought about having a “Plan” for teaching obedience to my children? Praise the Lord that his Grace and Mercies are new every day! And that he can reveal areas that I need to ask for forgiveness and my short comings as a parent.
“Lord, please soften my son’s heart and place the desire within him to obey his parents in the Lord, for
this is right. Help him to honor his father and mother, that it may go well with him and that he might live
long in the land. And help me to embrace a lifestyle of obedience, so that my life might be an example
to him. Give me a new vision for teaching and training my son in obedience. Amen.
Exodus 20:4-6
New International Version (NIV)
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
*Lord, help me to walk in your Love and obedience to keep your commands so you will show love to future generations of our family, In Jesus Name, Amen!
#21 Days 4 Sons Days 1
# 21 Days 4 Boys Day 1 - Heart Change
“Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord” 1 Samuel 2:12
Today’s study/prayer reflected on scripture regarding how Eli failed to raise his sons to know and fear the Lord and the Lord held him responsible for his actions. The Lord cursed Eli’s lineage saying “There will not be an old man in your house” (1 Samuel 4:17). WOW! ! God takes the way we raise our sons quite seriously.
I realize this world we live in is broken and is a battlefield to raise my son as a Godly man. One of the key points this study revealed is the battle is best fought on your knees.
May Griffin draw near to God, and He will draw near to him. May he cleanse his hands and purify his heart (James 4:8)
*It’s my hearts desire that Griffin will walk in God’s Love and grown to be a Godly man/leader and be a God’s Mighty Warrior.
Here is a picture of my little warrior boy….enjoying life
The study also asked who were role models your son have in their lives? I’m so blessed to have men that breathe life and instruction into Griffin :-)
Griffin & his daddy (Les)
Griffin & his Grandpa Keith Graber
Griffin & his Uncle Kevin
*So thankful and blessed for these Godly men to walk along side Griffin as he grows.
Who are the Godly men that walk along your sons? If not, try to think of one man you could ask to be a stronger part of their lives and commit to praying the Lord would put this need on their hearts.
*if you are following along with my blog, post pictures of those role models and Thank Jesus for them :-)
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
The winner of Warrior Prayers Ebook is......
Isaiah 40:11
New International Version (NIV)
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
You all know I have just the one son, Griffin, and two daughters, Megan & Natalie, at first I thought, is this selfish praying so intently and specifically for Griffin for 21 days? Then the Lord placed it on my heart as I pray for Griffin, some place in this vast universe there are two other sons, who will some day be my daughter's husbands, so I will be covering these unknown boys in Warrior Prayers as well.
Let’s get ready to pray passionately and purposefully for the hearts of our sons in the next 21 Days of Prayer for Sons challenge! May 1-22, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Change the world. Pray for your sons.
21 Days of Prayer for Sons
I'm linking up to participate in 21 days of prayer for sons. In doing so I receive a free book, Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need It Most!” for myself and one for one of my blog readers. Leave me a comment and I will randomly draw a winner!! See links for details. Starts May 1st - May 21st.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
You know the Big Handsome, let me introduce you to the Little Handsome!
Griffin has fell in love with IU Basketball thanks to the original Big Handsome, Cody Zeller. Griffin loves wearing his candy stripe pants and his #40 jersey, I told him I was going to call him my Little Handsome.
The Big Daddy (Les) surprised the kids with a basketball goal in the hayloft over the weekend!
So now the kids have their own indoor training facility….
Not quite as fancy as Cook Hall but still good for some shooting practice!
And we even encourage Academics in our facility. Read a couple of pages and then take a basketball shot.
And Big Sis was there to play some defense! I love our life on the farm and hubby for taking time to make a fun place for the kids to play basketball!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Griffin enjoying November outside
Good thing he got those gutters cleaned out to make way for the beautiful SNOW we got yesterday!!
The Big sisters didn’t want to come out and play in the snow. And I had piles of laundry, dishes, mail/bills, etc…that needed to be done but I let it all sit and headed out with my little man, as I know he isn’t going to stay little long.
Funny thing he said when he came in looking for me, he kept hollering MOM! (I was upstairs and he couldn’t hear me answering him) When I came down stairs, he said “When someone says MOM you need to answer me!” LOL. I said Ok, did you need something? I need help making a snowman. So off we went!
We made Mommy & Griffy Snowmen!
Here we are making poses just like our snowmen!
I helped with Kids for Christ at school yesterday, when the 2nd graders came outside, it was still snowing and fresh snow everywhere, the kids were so excited, and Griffin got caught with snow in his hand and the Principle, probably assuming he was going to throw the snow, said Griffin put the snow down! Which he did do. I think he was a bit embarrassed but shame on me, I thought it was a bit funny, of course it’s my kid with the snow in his hands, He gets it honest. I love playing in the snow! I told him I had already threw 3 snowballs at his daddy, earlier! He told me he was just going to taste it. I told him no touching snow at school but you can taste all the snow you want when you get home.
So I caught a picture of him eating his snow!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Megan's homework curriculum.
Ephesians 6
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”[a]4 Fathers,[b] do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
The Bible commands children to "Honor" your father and mother, not "Deal with their parental behavior". While I appreciate that the article was trying to get children to communicate with their parents about how they feel, the article did mention that the parents were correct in their "behavior" if the child chose to continue poor choices. The title was very disrespectful to parents as a whole. In this world where far too many parents are pitching their parental duties aside, those that are parenting their children to be disciplined and respect authority and walk with the Lord, that is now called "annoying parental behavior". Seriously, no wonder there is a lack of respect for authority in this country.
I'm not upset with my firstborn, as I feel she was trying to communicate her feelings. If she thinks our parenting is annoying to her, I'm OK with that too, because I'm not sure she really knows the definition of annoying, I mean I only spent 28 1/2 hours in labor with her, let me just say that was a little bit annoying! (Just joking) It was worth every minute. She has a beautiful spirit and heart and love for the Lord. I know it's not her desire to disobey. My heartaches for all my children as they grow up in this world, but especially for her as she has entered these teenage years, it's as if she is stepped into the battlefield of all that the teenage years bring with it. My prayer is that we have and continue to instill into her God's words and wisdom to help her shoot arrows at all that is being thrown at her and she will be able to stand firm and discern right from wrong. It truly is a battlefield when so many are not being brought up with Bible guided discipline and if by world values that is considered Annoying well you can betcha I'm going to continue to be the most annoying parent around.
Below is an online article that breaks down Esphesians 6:1-4 and recommend to all parents.
http://bible-truth.org/msg184.html
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Harvest Time!
When You see this big red machine
And this tractor and grain wagon coming through the field….
You know It’s going to make some little boys very happy!
My nephew, Alton, spent the day with me yesterday, and couldn’t have been more thrilled that the combine was in the field by the house. All day he said “let’s go see the farmers”. My kitchen was out of commission due to some cabinet repairs being made, so I called Carrie and her little guy, Leo, (who happens to be just 1 day older than Alton) to meet us for lunch @ DQ, followed by a combine ride! Leo wasn’t quite sure about riding by himself so Carrie got to ride with Leo and Alton! Check out Alton’s face, smiling from ear to ear! Alton proudly sits on the cooler and chatted the entire time he was in the combine. I’m sure he is an official “farmer” now.
Then it was time for the little boys to do some of their own farming.
Alton test driving tractors
He opted for the John Deere. I’m sure his daddy is proud!
I should have done some cropping/editing to this photo, but I’m lucky to even get photos on the blog. But I must say, I love the shadows on the concrete of these sweet boys on their tractors. Not much of a nap time today for these boys, there was too much farming to be done. You know the saying “A Farmer’s work is never done!”
Monday, October 3, 2011
Indiana Middle School Cross Country Championship
Natalie (6th grade) with team mate Emily S. (7th grade) before the varsity race began.
The Shoes that lead them to being honored as….
Indiana “All-State” Runners!! Natalie finished 7th and Emily 18th out of 239 runners!
Congratulations girls!!
*Also proud of my, niece, Kaelyn ~ 9 ~4th grader…..
ran her little heart out all the way to the finish line for the very first time at state championships this year! She’s the little girl in black uniform, off to the left side of the pack of runners, she’s passing them all the way to the finish! 80th out of 108 Way to go KK!
*Can’t forget Mr. Awesome, himself, my nephew, Connor ~ age 9~ 4th grader (no KK and Connor not twins, just blessed with niece and nephew from both sides of the family) ……..
Finished 2nd placed out of 116 runners!! He was awesome!!
Our family Loves us some XC!!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Musings from Griffin- "The BB Gun"
Griffin is in the 2nd grade this year. It amazes me how much more the academic standards have increased in the past 4 years since Natalie was in 2nd grade. He has started having writting assignments twice a week. No, this is not practicing their hand writting, which is what Natalie did in the 2nd grade, but actual writing paragraphs and papers. He has a writing folder that is sent home 2 times a week and he has a topic that is given and then he has to write about that topic. This past week he was given the topic: Do you remember a time when someone helped you? Why did you need help? Who helped you? How did the person help you? What happened first? Next? Last? What feelings did you have at the time? Write about it!
I wasn't sure how he was going to handle all these writing assignments because he really doesn't like to write, but what HE DOES LIKE is to tell stories. He chose his topic about learning to shoot the BB gun. I just happened to remember I had actually taken photos of him learning to shoot the BB gun in December 2009.
THE BB GUN
By Griffin Graber
age 7 - 2nd grade
Last week, I tried to shoot a bb gun. I couldn't shoot it. I couldn't get the bb up in place. I was mad.
Next, I kept tryin to get the bb's in the bb gun. I still failed. Then my dad showed me that I didn't pull back on the side far enough.
Finally, I was able to shoot the bb gun. My dad watched me shoot the bb gun at the can. Then I went to see where I hit the can. I hit it! I was very happy and Dad was too.
Griffin got a WOW and an A+ on his paper, which for this little mister was a great accomplishment. He has struggled with "taking tests", if you ask him the questions he will know them and answer them correctly every time, but something about processing it and choosing the multiple choice questions stumps him. For him to do well on his writing assignments, something that I thought would be another struggle has brought smiles to his face and ours. I also look forward to see on paper what his little mind is thinking about.
One of his first writing assignments the question he had to write about was "If you had to move away to a different country, what would you miss most about America?" His answer was, I would miss my farm and my grandpa and grandma. I hope I could live on a farm in the new country. I would fly a big jet to America to visit my grandpa and grandma and speak English.
Too cute! Pretty smart to figure out if he was in another country he may not be speaking English!
Last night's writing assignment his topic question was "If you had a plant that could grow anything, what would it grow?" His answer: My plant would grow money! It would grow money in Autumn. I would call it the money bush. I would keep it in my room.
He is so funny! Cracks me up. Even more so I realize he is so MUCH like his daddy! I think Les is still trying to figure out how to grow money in Autumn...that being said Big Daddy, Les, is gearing up the combine and we are trusting God to have taken care of our crops through the dry dry weather of summer and hoping we will have a blessed and safe harvest this Autumn!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Barr-Reeve's Graber and Perkins set pace at The Angel Mounds XC Meet
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/sep/13/cross-country/
Click on the link above to read about our xc team.
Barr-Reeve runners did an amazing job last night at The Run at the Mounds meet hosted by Plaza Park School in Newburgh, Indiana last night. Natalie set the course record, see article! Woo Hoo! Article has a few mistakes regarding information about Natalie's cousins, but it's close. They are Heller's, not Grabers, and Chloe goes to Washington, not Barr-Reeve. hee hee.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Giant Cookie Giveaway!
I love cookies! They are my most favorite treat! My dear friend, Kiersten, is having a Giant cookie giveaway. for a chance to win a delicious 14″ chocolate chip cookie cake. click the link below the picture of this adorable and yummy cookie!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Moments with Megan!
Megan has had a lot of activity going on this past few weeks.
August 19 and 20 we spent the weekend at the Indiana State Fair Dog Show. This was her first time showing at the state fair level. We went last year and watched the competition but this year she was actually a part of it. Due to our cattle dog, Libby, passing away :-( Megan worked with her dog cousin, Max.
Megan showed Max, in Obedience, Agility, and showmanship. Here she is waiting with Max for her turn in Obedience.
Megan waiting for the judge to tell her what to do, this time it was “heel”, Max has to walk right along side of her off-leash, and stop and sit next to her, when the judge commands. Megan could only tell Max to heel once, and they have to do fast and slow walks in between all that . It is quite a task to achieve, but Megan and Max worked well together, and training took place long before the day of the dog show! I’m so proud of her!
After agility she had showmanship. This is where the judge, judges the person/trainer a.k.a. Megan. She did a fabulous job too, and worked hard, as a little girl sitting right in front of the fence had a water bottle and was making it make crackling noises, which just happens to be one of MAX’s FAVORITE things to play with! It really is a disadvantage to have ALL spectators right up close to the dogs, but that is just part of it, and you have to work and train harder to get the dogs to stay focused. We had a great time. And Megan had fun and is already preparing for next year.
As of this past Sunday night, she has a new puppy, Buddy, who is a red merle, Australian Shepherd. Can’t wait to see what these two can do together!
We also had a good time watching friends and family participate in the dog show also. Below is a picture of Megan & Max, Kurt B & Roper, and my nephew, Connor & Kobe. Connor received 17th place in obedience with Kobi, and Kurt & Roper cleaned house on the awards with 4th place obedience, 1st place in agility, and 22nd in showmanship! We were so proud of them all!
Now that dog show is complete with the State Fair being the last show until next year, Megan is concentrating on volleyball this year. She has been working very hard and is doing very well! She has always had such upper body strength and it is fun to see her put that to work on a volleyball. I remember when she was 18 months old, I had brought groceries in and sat 2, gallon milk jugs on the floor while I went to get more groceries. I came back in and her was super baby Megan carrying milk jugs to the refrigerator!
She has been playing every position. She has been setting, and a hitter mostly here lately. I think her major growth spurt hasn’t hurt any for volleyball either. We have enjoyed watching her play, I nearly had a heart attack watching her play in a tourney this weekend against Loogootee, They ended up winning the tourney in the 3rd game 15-13 but the game was back and forth the entire time. I was on the edge of my seat, and Natalie was telling me to calm down. I told her I could start cheering and yelling really loud like I do at the XC meets, but she advised that I shouldn’t do that! What can I say, I am the momma bear, who will always be looking out for her cubs! :-)
Megan & Her volleyball team (she is the tall blonde on the end of back row)
Tonight we are off for Natalie’s first Jr. High XC Meet!!
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