Week 23: Looking Back on This Past Week + What I’m Reading, Watching, and Listening to
Kaitlynn highlighted my hair at home first time and he did it in a little over two hours and he did a great job! It’s so amazing to have a live hairdresser now!
It was so fun to see how she mixed the color – I had never seen her do it before!
Silas came in and said, “Wow!! How many foils are in your hair?” I could see that she had never seen what it looked like on someone who highlighted her hair.
The final result!
David walked all the way to the car at church on Sunday! This was a big deal and we were proud of him! See his video here.
David walked all the way to the car at church on Sunday! We have been working hard with him on walking independently and not always wanting to be carried when we go long distances and this was a huge win for him!!
What I’m learning…
Compassionate Christ – This is a wonderful ministry that brings Bible stories to life in new and meaningful ways. Listen to my podcast episode with the author here.
What I’m watching…
Jesse and I started watching this show two nights ago and got so into it that we stayed up until midnight watching it – which we rarely do! It’s pretty clean – there’s just a little bit of language, but we found the artwork to be very engaging! And I’ve been watching Little House on the Prairie with the kids.
What I’m listening to…
The kids really liked David’s movie so they always ask us to listen to the song in the car.
I love summer with these 4 little people so much! The little girl is becoming an honored member of our family and we are all attached to her fiercely and are very grateful for the privilege of helping her take care of her!
Kierstyn has loved reading the Boxcar Children’s books this summer!
It is easy to say “I trust in God” when life is going well. But is that still true when you are in the depths of struggle?
When it feels like the rug is being pulled out from under you. When something you hope and pray for doesn’t happen. When your friend betrays you deeply. If your bank account is almost empty and you don’t know how to pay your bills.
If you don’t get the job you were looking forward to. When your child receives sad news. When you experience the age of second infertility. When someone you love walks out of your life and you haven’t heard from them in months. When the door you were so excited to walk through is slammed in your face.
We’ve been through a lot of heartache over the past few years in many areas of our lives – and very little of it has been the stuff I’ve been able to share online. Maybe one day, but for now, I want you to know that the faith I’m talking about here is not just something that sounds good when life is easy. Checked. Again and again.
And all the time, God has been with us. You are faithful in the hardest, darkest, and most uncertain times of our lives… and I hope you will continue to be so.
He has been. He is. And He will be.
Question: Please remind us if you use the app to help you train.
Answer: I am using the Runna app. I really like it – you set how far and how fast you can run, how many days a week you want to train, what you’re training for and when your race day is, and what days you want to run longer and it generates a personalized plan for you complete with different types of running each week, tips, encouragement, and race postponement, etc.
I was SO HAPPY with how it helped me prepare for the 10k! They gave me a code – CRYSTAL2 and it will give you 2 weeks free if you want to try it. I feel like you can get a really good feeling if it’s a good fit for that period of time.
Jesse set a goal months ago to compete in a CrossFit competition – and he did it last Friday and did better than he expected!! One of my favorite parts of the tournament was watching our kids cheer for him. Two weeks ago, they came to cheer me on at my first 10k and this past week they got to cheer Jesse on at his first CrossFit competition.
I hope it will inspire our children to see their parents doing extraordinary things outside of their comfort zone… at 44 and 45 years old. You are never too old to try something new and do things that scare you.
Kierstyn lost her first tooth this past week – she was SO excited about it coming out that I think she stayed up all night and worked hard to get it out.
But it was still dark so when it came out, he couldn’t find it.
So he woke us up at 4:30 in the morning, happy that he had lost a tooth and shocked that he couldn’t find it!
Thankfully, we got it and he was very happy with his first visit to the tooth fairy. He asked me to be the tooth fairy and give him more than a rand. He learned negotiation skills from his older siblings, I think.
In Case You Missed It – This Week’s Links
The origin of Wonder is an interview with the author — Want to instill a love of nature in your children? Don’t miss this interview with Eryn Lynum about how to develop your own faith and the faith of your children by enjoying nature.
You Don’t Need More Time; You Need a Different Perspective — You keep thinking that life will finally calm down… one day. But often, that day never comes. Because the issue is often not just your system. It’s stressful to feel like it’s all up to you. In this podcast episode, I share what I’m learning about time, priorities, and sacrifice while balancing my various roles — and I hope it helps you live with more peace, joy, and purpose! (Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.)
Summer movie coupons and cheap movies — Looking for affordable fun for the kids this summer? Be sure to check out this roundup of all the best summer movie deals for kids!
Amazon Prime Day is coming soon – June 23 – 26 will be Amazon Prime Days! If this is anything like last year’s Prime Days sales, we’ll see deals as good or better than Black Friday deals! Learn how to plan ahead and maximize your savings in this post.
Easy Baked Chicken ($10 Family Dinner Idea) — This baked chicken with corn and watermelon recipe is your new summer dinner. It has fresh flavors, minimal preparation, and great crowd appeal!
