Casting Crumbs

I first discovered German Chocolate “anything” when I was about 12. My friend had invited me to a family get-together and some wonderful woman had brought German Chocolate Pie! It was a small piece of heaven on a saucer for me and so began my love affair with German Chocolate.

Later I discovered that one of the 31 flavors that Baskin Robbins sported was German Chocolate Cake ICECREAM! It was phenomenal and was always my choice whenever we went there. However, the last few years I haven’t seen it there and I have been heart-broke over my loss.

Some Dairy Queens make a German Chocolate blizzard, and while wonderful, never fully compared to the Baskin Robbins icecream.

BUT! Today I attended the Mom’s Pray and Play group for church. We went to a new coffee shop just up the street from our church and lo and behold there on the sign “German Chocolate Cake” flavored coffee screamed at me. I must have this, I decided. I wasn’t too hopeful that it would be anything like I was hoping for, but would give it a try. OH MY!! It was delectable! I am sitting here craving another one as I type. What a find! What joy!

My German Chocolate Cake coffee and a muffin

Doc’s is the name of this new shop. I feel it may be a place I will frequent!

This hilarious sign was hanging on the wall. Thank goodness our kids were being watched at the church!

These are my lovely friends that I enjoyed while sipping my newfound coffee – Karen and Amber.

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When we don’t live a prioritized life, we can easily succumb to the tyranny of the urgent.

I think as a woman, wife, mom, friend, daughter, ministry leader, etc. etc. I am constantly seeking to bring balance and priority to my life. If I don’t consistently keep this in my mind everything ends up a mess all the time. Sometimes I get tired of concentrating on it. I am sure that all of you understand this as well!

I can always tell when my life is out of balance because I find that I am living “reactively” instead of “proactively”. Does anyone out there know what I mean by this??

I have thought a lot about being out of balance lately as I have been having severe pain from a heel spur. I have walked on the side of my foot for months, which causes my legs to ache and then eventually my back. It just shows how having one priority out of whack can easily begin to affect other areas of my life.

(Thankfully I have discovered some wonder calcium online that within the past week has really started to help! I’ve even been able to walk around barefoot without limping – YEAH!!)

However, all this to say, I just wanted to share that quote with you. It made me stop and think; maybe it will you too.

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What a glorious Easter Sunday we had. The weather couldn’t have been any more perfect.

Eeny, Meeny and Miney

We went to church in the morning and then came home quickly to welcome our family for a BBQ feast. Delicious!!

The kids had fun with the Easter Egg hunt. Jaden was so tired he screamed and cried until we physically carried him to the yard and pointed to the eggs. Then he really got into it.

Evely was content with her 3 eggs!

Jaden, the candy monster had to stop every so often to eat something before finding more.

Julian hunted down the most – age being on his side!

We really enjoyed our family being together. It seemed like a quiet day for the Shoemakers and the Brown’s. I think it was a truly relaxing, mellow day. (or because Mary Kay had lost her voice! )

The picture of the day – he slept where he dropped!

“Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.” Martin Luther

John 11:25 Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.

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Today I had the privilege of taking my Mom to her surprise Birthday party. She has really played down her birthday this year and is even leaving town the day before it to go visit her Sis. BUT. . .her friends would not let this time pass to throw a big “Celebrating Life with You” sort of Birthday.

It was wonderful. There were 32 women that came!

Some were from distant past (like before I was even born!), some were her hangout, eat-out, cruisin’ friends, some were work friends and then some were new friends!

What an honor to see all these women gather to praise God for my own Mother’s life, her testimony, her legacy, her grace and friendship.

One of the neat things they did was to take her name, J-U-D-I-T-H, and then several of the ladies gave a tribute to Mom using one letter of her name.

When it came to H, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place, when Jane announced that along with all the other “h” words Mom was her “Hero”! What great moments of blessing this was to her and to me as I listened.

Generations!

As I sat and watched all this play out in front of me, I reflected on my own life. I wondered when I get into my retirement years and if I had been in Mom’s shoes, what sort of people would have come. Would there have been 32? Would there be even 10? Would they be able to get up and say all the magnificent things about my life that they could hers??

This was not a selfish moment. I just found it to be one of those moments in life when all the “stuff” falls away and you see everything clearly. You see what is important and what is NOT! You see that relationships with others, the way you conduct yourself, your testimony of a great and powerful God. . .all these things are what is important in life. It challenged me to do better, to present myself to others as a living testimony, to strive to pour my life into others and not to get caught up in only me. I hope that I may live life as well as my Mom has! That my life will at least speak of the depths of God’s love, like hers shouts it.

How blessed I am! Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you very much and I am very proud to be your daughter.

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

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On another note. . .Evely of course made quite the lovely impression on everyone! Here’s a couple of photos of the lovely little lady at her first ladies only party! Sorry, I just can’t resist!

Peek – a -boo!

Yes, I’m cute even without a nap!

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Last week we took the boys to have their haircut at the local Custom Cuts. They run a special for kids cuts on Wednesdays. We have taken Julian to have his hair cut several times but Jaden has never had his done – only by his dear Mama. I have always put him in the kitchen sink and let him play in the water while I chop away. However, my two and 1/2 year old is now outgrowing my sink so it’s time to make the big step.

We had to wait for a really long time and the kids were all really restless. It finally came our turn and Jaden went first. He sat there pretty well but you could tell he was not very happy! This is the look on his face throughout the hair cut!

Is this not hilarious!!

He was pretty cooperative for it being his first time.

Finished! He’s happy with his new look.

Before

After!

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Hi Everyone! The last few days have been absolutely nuts and I haven’t been able to get to the computer so this post is the highlights of the last few crazy but fun days of my life.

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First of all, I must say that I am sorry that I didn’t get to wish my honey Happy Birthday yesterday!! Yesterday was his big 36 year old day!!! I love Tom with all my heart. I am so thankful that he is my husband, my friend and my comic relief. He always keeps me guessing, laughing and in wonder at our awesome marriage. The hard times in our life have drawn us closer and closer and I am so thankful for that. I give thanks to God for bringing Tom into my life, for giving us a wonderful friendship and for allowing us each year together.

So Happy Belated Birthday, Tom!!!!!

Here is one of my favorite pics of Tom, you have seen it before, but I love it. . .

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Also, speaking of the Evely girl. . .she has started taking her first steps! It has been so cute watching this miniature fourteen month old walking around the house. She is getting better each day. She enjoys being upright!

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Here’s a few highlights from last Wednesday evening. We had Julian’s birthday party at a local pizza place. Nothing too fancy but we had a fun time celebrating!

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The next day we got Julian out of school a little early, dropped Evely off at Mom and Dad’s and headed off to the Great Wolf Lodge with the boys. Unfortunately my camera battery was dead so I don’t have a lot of great pics to show you. We had a blast!! We will definitely do that again. We all got to play to hearts content. For those who don’t know what this is, it is a giant indoor waterpark and hotel. You have to stay the night to use the waterpark. They have everything from a giant baby area with slides and fountains, a fort you can climb, giant waterslides, a lazy river and more.

I’m ready to hit the water!

One highlight is the giant bucket at the top of the fort that dumps water every 5 minutes. This bell starts dinging and everyone starts running under the bucket and waiting for it to dump the 700 gallons of water on their heads. It’s powerful. I finally got underneath it and had a major wardrobe malfunction!!! I saw little kids getting splatted on the floor from it, but it actually is very fun!

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When we got home from the lodge we were pleasantly surprised to have Uncle Mike down for a visit and to celebrate his birthday! We went to Kyoto Steakhouse to celebrate all the birthdays. This is Julian’s very favorite place to eat.

Onion volcano!

mmmm. . .teriyaki chicken!

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And Finally, the BEST NEWS of all!!!!

Mom went to the Dr yesterday for her checkup and results of her catscan. The doctor was amazed at how she was doing. The catscan was normal. He told her that when he had first seen her, he could only have hoped that she would be where she is today. He said that he didn’t expect this. He is amazed at her recovery.

But we are not!! We know whom we have believed! We are persuaded that He is ABLE. . . To keep that which we have committed unto Him against that day!!

Mom and Dad at Julian’s bday party

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