and a humble christmas to YOU!

i overheard clairely praying for breakfast with caloway, and caught the last snippet from her prayer ...

"i pray that at church, we will learn more about you, and learn to love You, and i pray for the person with the humblest little tree that they will have the best christmas, and for those with riches, to share with the poor. in Jesus' name, amen."


i couldn't have said it better, and how sweet to hear it from her little lips. ♥

my not-so-little boy

caloway definitely has mastered the one-liner lately. i can't always tell if he's trying to be funny, or if it just naturally comes out like that! lately, he's been working on a point system for meals. if he likes what i make, he awards me points. usually, it's a LOT of points, like 100 million, or 100 googolplex, or in some cases, 10. i try to avoid the "10 point" mark, haha. thankfully, he likes everything i make, and tells me, "mom, you're the best food maker EVER!"

this morning, he noticed his bacon had crispy black edges, and since he usually likes his bacon "flappy", he zeroed in on me, and said flatly -

"this bacon is burnt. you lose one point."

and then went back to calmly eating his breakfast. after taking a sip of his OJ, he said, "mom, you're the BEST orange juice maker EVER!" that didn't soothe my ego, since i had nothing to do with Tropicana producing said orange juice. :)

it is so much fun having this boy in our family!

ten years old!

cameron celebrated his 10th birthday on sunday! i can't believe my baby boy is 10 yrs old!! everything about him is big - he's just about as tall as me, wears the same shoe size as i do, and his shirts fit me! cameron is in 4th grade, now, and it's been really neat to see him blossom and grow, especially in the curriculum we're using for school this year. cameron's TNT (awana) leader bought him a new bible last month, and it meant a LOT to cam! i choked up a little, when i entered his room a few nights ago, after seeing the light still on, preparing to lecture him on going to BED, and i saw him leaning back on his pillows, reading his bible, deeply engrossed.

tim has been reading a chapter from the bible every night at dinner time, which i am so thankful for. it's totally something i would forget to do, or feel like i'm so busy, there's just not any time in the evening to read as a family, and tim has made it such a priority the last few months, our family has really been experiencing spiritual blessing because of it. caloway accepted Christ a few weeks ago, and our kids have been soaking it in, asking questions - cameron has been able to match what he's hearing in the book of John to what he's been studying in school, for his bible lessons. i can't think of a more important thing for our family to do, than to learn and discover more about Jesus. sometimes it seems like there's so much going on - we are SO busy - crazy, american families! - we lose sight of what's really important. not good grades, or being on time for PTA functions, or making sure our kids pull A's for all their homework assignments and schoolwork, being involved in sports, and extra-curricular activities. these aren't bad in and of themselves, but they SO easily trump what's REALLY necessary and important for our kids - learning, discovering and falling in love with their Savior, Jesus. all that other "STUFF" pales in comparison.

i am so proud of cameron, and all that he is, and all that he will be someday. his heart, his honesty, and his earnest desire to be what God wants him to be, is one of the most precious things in our lives.

happy birthday, cammy!

pie safe

my brother finished my pie safe! daniel started a big project earlier this year, building me the pie safe i've always wanted. i got the pie safe plans from suzie a few years ago, bought the tins 18 mo. ago, and finally it's finished! it is BEAUTIFUL - it's just about as tall as i am! i'm so proud of dan for his hard work, and being willing to do this for me. it means the world to me, and i just wanna say i LOVE my little brother :)

of caloway and big toes

claire has a cute little crooked toe on her left foot that we've always been fond of :) a few years ago, we took her to the dr. to see if we could straighten it out. they took x-rays, and found nothing wrong, other than her toe bone being a little crooked. they gave us some foam separators to keep wedged between her toes, in order to straighten it out. we tried that for about 6 months, and it worked! until we took the foam pieces out - then it went right back to its crooked self.
since then, we've named the toe "crooky" and it's been a cute little family joke ever since. caloway's big toes, in turn, are pretty big, compared to his other smaller toes. i think they are adorable, and i love how they look in big boy sandals, with his big toes popping out far ahead of his little ones. caloway decided last night, that he was going to name HIS big toes "mr. fatty face" and "chuckie". i can't tell you how hard i laughed, along with claire and cameron, as caloway waved mr. fatty face and chuckie in the air!
this really might fall more along the lines of an inside joke - a family funny - but i had to document it somewhere. :) and i'm just incredibly thankful for the quirky sense of humors my kids have!

you never know when to expect ...

i was sitting at the computer, browsing facebook, when caloway came over, and said:

"mom, will you help me pray Jesus in my heart?"

i asked him if he knew what that meant, and he told me he was talking about it with cam and claire, and he told them he was going to go to heaven, too. he said that claire asked him if he'd prayed yet, and that if he wanted to go to heaven, he had to pray and ask Jesus in his heart! She told him to go ask mommy to help!

i sat him on my lap, and explained as clearly as i could, what it means to sin, and how much God loves us so much, that He sent His only son, Jesus, to be the One to fix our relationship. while i was sharing forgiveness, cal said:

"well, i forgive, cuz' Jesus forgives me!"

i prayed with my baby boy, who in turn, hugged me tight around my neck, and whispered, "i'm embarrassed!" i hugged him tighter, and told him i loved him, and he should never have be embarrassed around me.

i've been listening to this song, hear us from heaven, (it's the first song on the blog) and the words from the chorus are burning into my heart:

"Open the blind eyes, unlock the deaf ears ... come to your people, as we draw near ...

hear us from heaven, touch our generation ... we are Your people - crying out in desperation ... "

SIT for a moment ... listen to this song ... and thank God for His salvation, and the incredible, awe-inspiring wonder that wells up, when we think of how deeply He loves us, that He not only reaches rational adults, but tender, innocent children who can understand the massive love and forgiveness of an almighty GOD.

but i want a "little one"!

caloway has been asking lately, if i will marry him. today, while i was fixing my hair, he came in the bathroom, and sat down.

cal - "mom, will you marry me?"

me - "no, caloway - i already married daddy!"

cal - "but you love ME, too!"

me - "yes, but i can't marry you - you're my son! you will have to find another lady to marry someday."

cal (somewhat suspiciously) - "a big one? like you?"

me - "well, yeah - a big, grown up lady."

cal (upset) - "but i want a LITTLE ONE!"

btw- this is caloway, with his own "harry potter" scar. we found out later, that claire gave it to him, as well as several other "hand-made" tattoos. :)

candy store!

we took a field trip w/ our homeschool co'op 2 wks ago, to jennings state park. the kids learned all about birds, snakes, and other wildlife that is indigenous to pennsylvania. anyway, on the way back, my friend asked if we wouldn't mind stopping at a candy store - OF COURSE! this little candy store was a goldmine of every type of sweets you could imagine. do you remember THESE?

and i couldn't believe these are still made:

and there was a 10-cent table!! oh the possibilities!

on the other side of the store, were tables full of every kind of cookie cutter imaginable, german candies, candy-by-the-pound, gumballs in every size, shape, color ... *sigh* is your mouth watering yet?

end of summer

not too much has been going on around here lately! school started at the end of august, we're homeschooling for another year. i joined a co'op, which enables us to participate in field trips, class parties, and also opens up a huge network of families with similar interests, hobbies, and resources. we can pick and choose what we want to do, and i'm finding out that there are a TON of homeschooling programs in our area! claire started gymnastics a few wks ago, and really loves it - she also started piano lessons and is doing an incredible job! i broke down, finally, and decided to have her take lessons with another teacher - it just wasn't going well, with me teaching her piano, on top of school and everything else. so claire's teacher and i are swapping lessons - i'm going to teach her daughter, and she will teach clairely. it worked out great!

cameron started 4th grade, and is using a computer-based program for his work- it has been a WONDERFUL option for him, and he is doing very well w/ his schoolwork. it's definitely a plus that it's on the computer, his favorite place to be! haha.

caloway is doing some pre-school here at home- we're simply going over letters and sounds, numbers, and hopefully begin some pre-reading in a few months.

here are some pictures from our Pirates game, and downtown pittsburgh! we love pittsburgh - the city and all the bridges that wrap around it are gorgeous! it's so fun being only 25 min. from downtown pittsburgh, it really opens up a lot of cultural things to do! we're planning on seeing the ballet, Sleeping Beauty, this month, and in december, the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular will be here.

10 cents for a tissue box?

at church tonight, during youth small groups, cameron came tip-toeing in to ask me if he could have a dime for a box of tissues. ?? i didn't have a dime, and while i was asking him why he didn't just grab a tissue from the restroom, it dawned on me ... and became suddenly clear why he wanted change for tissues. you see ... those little tampon boxes in the ladies' restrooms have always grabbed his attention whenever we're in there - whenever he's asked about them, i've always told him they are tissue box dispensers! hahaha - figures that would end up biting me back.

what's even funnier, is caloway came running in about 10 minutes later, first asking me for a quarter for the "tissue boxes", then going to at least 5 other kids, asking if he could "please have a quarter for some tissues"! i made sure no one gave him quarters, hehe. maybe it's time to have another "talk" with my big boy! :)

overheard ...

driving in the car often results in some fascinating backseat conversation between the kids. tim and i overheard this on the way to the library yesterday:

cameron: claire, did you know in the year 3008 we won't exist on earth? but the holman family will still be here. we're going to be in heaven. except for you. unless you've asked Jesus in your heart. have you?

claire: yes!

cameron: good, cuz' i've asked Jesus in my heart 3 times! once in the bathroom with mom, once in my room, and once when i was reading this book that showed how to pray and ask Jesus in your heart. that means i'm DEFINITELY going to heaven!

summer shots

we were at a wedding today, and i captured a few shots of the kiddos outside - it was a beautiful day, 90 degrees outside, and they all looked so cute in their "nice" clothes :)

saw 6

i had carpal tunnel surgery 10 days ago - finally had to go under the knife for it! i didn't think it'd be a big deal, but after being home for a day after the surgery, i realized i'd completely underestimated the inconvenience of losing my dominant hand! thankfully, we had some kind ladies in our church making us dinner for awhile, since i was completely incapacitated. my sweet claire bear was absolutely the most helpful - she helped me get dressed, when i couldn't button, snap or zip (haha), she dried my hair, helped flat-iron (i know, eek!), made lunch for the boys (PB&J!), and was all-around Miss Handy! i was so proud of my girl, she was such a huge helper, i love her so much! :) caloway just kept asking, "mom, when are you going to get your wrapper off?" (my bandage)
so today, i got my stitches out, and almost passed out! i ASKED the nurse, "is it going to hurt?" of course, she answered breezily, "not at all!" well, when any medical personnel tell you that something isn't going to "hurt", you can just about bet it's gonna BURN!! and it did - tug, snip ... ziiiip! went the stitches through the skin that had already started growing over the stitches ... 10, to be exact. ohh, MAN, did it burn, and it turned my stomach to feel it pull through the wound! i got up to wash the blood off my hands, and started reeling. nice.
after lying down for about 10 min, and an OJ, i was ok, and the dr. finally felt comfortable letting me get up. so here's what i look like :) tim said it looks like something from SAW. nice. it's VERY sore, a little numb in some places, and i still can't touch it, it makes me nauseous.

dresser

i bought this antique dresser in waynesburg, pa a few months ago. it came from an oldbuilding that was in the process of being restored. The building was constructed by the Peoples National Bank and opened on aug. 10, 1907. after the bank closed, it was used as an office building from 1952 to 1989. the building had been vacant for over 20 yrs, and some of the floors had been apartments at one time. the guy who is restoring the building cleared out quite a lot of furniture, and sold it to help fund his project. i got this dresser for $40. it took a few weeks to strip and scrape through 3 layers of paint and stain, and i still couldn't get all the way down to the wood on the sides and drawers! i sanded it as smooth as i could, and finally finished it off with primer and 2 coats of paint. i got the brass key locks sanded bright and shiny, and added glass knobs. i absolutely LOVE IT!

claire's room

one of the girls in our youth group painted this art for claire's room - i LOVE it! she is incredibly talented!