Great is Thy Faithfulness

As I watched Shelley and the kids go off to school today, I was thinking about my family and God's faithfulness to me.  After they left, I sat down and began to read a blog by John Piper's son and daughter-in-law.  They recently had a baby and are rejoicing in God's faithfulness to them.   One of their posts talks about the selection of their baby's name.  In that post Molly Piper talks about the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness.  As I read through this I was struck with the line, "All I have needed thy hand hath provided." From an amazing wife that loves Jesus, loves me, and loves our kids, the blessings of 3 great kids, a great job...  the Lord has done nothing but provided for me and I praise Him and rejoice in His faithfulness! 

 You can check out the Piper's blog here.  For those of you who don't know, John Piper is the pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minnesota.  Our friends, the Gammons go to this church and were the first one's to write about the Pipers.

Back to Routine

Today was Jacob's first day back to preschool.  He will be going Tues, Wed, and Thurs, 9:00 am - 11:30 am.  He has been asking us the last few weeks when school is starting so he was very ready and excited to go today.  He had a good first day and told us bits and pieces of his day all day today.  While he was at school, Me, Abbey and Micah went down the road to another church where there is an aerobics class three days a week that I will be going to.  There is childcare for Abbey and Micah and they do a craft and Bible story with the kids.  We went today and Abbey loved her class (I told her that it was like her own little preschool class).  I very much enjoyed my aerobics class and am looking forward to getting some exercise a few times a week.  We all had a great day and are happy to be back in a routine.  

Abbey's Shiner

A few days ago Abbey was standing on a bag by a side table in our living room.  She somehow slipped on the bag and hit her eye on the corner of the table.  Her eye immediately started swelling and by morning it was black and blue.  It kind of looks like eye shadow so she thinks it looks pretty.  I think it looks worse than it feels because she hasn't complained about it hurting once, but we still feel bad that our little girl has a shiner. 

Geauga County Fair

Saturday we spent the day at the Geauga County Fair.  There was a lot to see and do.  We saw a ton of animals and that of course was Abbey's favorite part.  She actually fed a horse hay right out of her hand and she wasn't scared at all.  I was amazed that she kept doing it because the horses mouth and teeth were so big and she kept getting more hay for the horse to eat.  She is definitely our animal lover.  Jacob really enjoyed shooting the bow and arrows and fishing.  We ended the night with a few rides which is always fun.  We think this fair may be an annual thing for our family.  A good day for all :)

Jacob

We haven't written much about Jacob lately.  He will be going back to preschool next week and is really looking forward to it.  He turned 5 this summer and we went back and forth with sending him to kindergarten this year, or waiting until next year since he has a late birthday.  We opted for waiting and feel pretty confident that we've made the right decision.  He is very smart and social, but also very much a homebody and we thought 5 days a week would be a lot for him this year.  Everyone we talked to said to wait and we figured we can't hurt him, but only give him an advantage.  The thought of kindergarten next year is crazy... I'm not quite ready to cross that bridge just yet, but we know he'll be ready next year and we will have to be also.  Jacob is maturing so much lately into such a thoughtful, caring boy.  He is so kind to his sister and has such a sweet heart.  Abbey got a late birthday present the other day and as she opened it Jacob said "I'm so excited for you Abbey."  Tonight we were playing memory and Abbey still isn't quite sure how to play, but when it was her turn, Jacob would help her out by telling her which cards were matches.  Then, when she would make a match he would smile and tell her "good job".  Abbey also hurt her eye tonight and as he went to bed he reminded me and daddy to pray for her eye.  At dinner lately he has been thanking me several times during our meal and telling me how good it is (he's going to make some girl so happy someday).  We are so thankful for the blessings of our children and it is such an encouragement to us to see them growing into these neat little people.   

Abbey's Dream

When Abbey got up this morning she kept telling us about the dream she had last night.  She was at the pool and.... I'll let her tell you about it.  Make sure you pause the music on the blog to hear her.  She keeps us laughing :)

Bedford Pool

Summer is coming to a close.  Today we spent one of our last days (maybe our last) at Bedford Pool.  We have spent many fun days there this summer running through the sprinklers, playing in the pool, jumping off the side and having popsicles at the concession stand.  This summer has gone so fast (kind of sad), but we have had many conversations with the kids about fall and the excitement that the new season brings... pumpkin patches, hay rides, pretty leaves, sweatshirts, hot chocolate and preschool (for Jacob).  So, as this summer comes to a close, we look back at all the memories we've made, and look forward to what is to come.    

Scout & Sophia

Scout and Sophia are the two black labs that live next door to us.  Over the last 6 years we have gotten to know our neighbors Denise and Jessica really well and have grown close to them and their dogs.  We spend a lot of time with them outside talking and playing.  Scout is actually Sophia's mom and about a year ago we watched her have her puppies.  They kept Sophia so we have known her since she was first born.  They are really good dogs and the kids love spending time with them.  Here are a couple pictures of the kids using the ball thrower to play fetch with the them.    

Our Little Love

It doesn't take much to make our Micah smile.  He is such a happy, laid back, go with the flow baby and he's a joy to be around.  It's hard for me not to get the baby itch when I see this face. I'm ready for another one like him (or like any of them )  :)

Abbey & Micah

No one can make Micah laugh like his big sister.  She hardly has to do anything and he thinks she's hilarious... (pause the music on the bottom left to hear)

Happy 3rd Birthday Abigail

Ms. Abigail turned 3 on Saturday and we had a small afternoon get together with family and friends with snacks, cake and some activities for the kids.  We had a moon bounce, a teen from our church made the kids balloon animals and a pinata. It was a fun day. Some people ended up staying after the party for pizza that evening and the kids unpackaged all her presents and had fun playing with her new toys.  I was feeling pretty sick that whole day due to my surgery and felt a little "out of it" the whole party, but I made it through the day.   Abbey really enjoyed her special day and we loved celebrating our sweet girl.

Shelley's Kidney Stones...

Shelley had her kidney stone surgery on Thursday.  Overall the procedure went very well.  But before surgery she was given two antibiotics by IV and she had a reaction to the first.  She got what is called 'red man syndrome' and had extreme itching on her scalp and upper stomach.  The first nurse that was taking care for her dismissed the symptoms as nerves (she wasn't a very good nurse to say the least), but later in the day another nurse said that definitely was a reaction to the medicine.  The doctor was able to break all the stones into tiny dust like particles that will easily pass.  They placed a stent into the tube that connects her kidney to her bladder and the doctor had warned that it is painful, having the stent in your body.  They will remove the stent next Thursday and Shelley will be very happy to have it out.  It is definitely bothering her... mostly in her back.  They gave her some medication for the pain, but she is trying to take it very sparingly because although the doctor said it was o.k. while nursing she knows that whatever goes into her body is coming out at least a little so she likes to stay on the safe side.  

They will be running some tests over the next couple months to try to determine why her body made these and hopefully this will be the first and last time that she will have to deal with these...  

More Construction and Garage Sale

I worked for the past two days on our basement and was able to finish some more of the walls.  While I was working downstairs, Shelley was outside running our garage sale.  We needed to get rid of a lot of stuff that had just been accumulating in our basement.  Overall we did pretty well at the sale and we were able to make a few dollars.  We tried to sell some of the kids old toys, but once they saw them in the boxes, they just took them out and started playing with them all over again!  We can't seem to get rid of any toys.  We will be so glad once the basement is finished and we can put the toys down there and out of sight.  

  

Day 1 of Construction

Today we started on the construction of finishing our basement and adding a bathroom.  We only have one bathroom in our house and it has become a problem with 4 out of the 5 Colberts being potty trained.  So, we hired a plumber and today he started on the bathroom rough-in.  I was able to help him out a little bit.  And Jake was right by my side the whole way.  He even brought his shovel down to help out with the digging.  Jake especially liked when the plumber used the jackhammer... that's why we had ear protection.  We are hoping to complete the basement sooner then later.  Once the plumbing is roughed in, I am going to handle most of the rest of the work.  We'll keep taking pictures of the progress. 

Abigail Rae

Abbey doodle, Abbey Rae Rae... our little girl is going to be three in about a week.  We were looking at some old pictures of her and just can't believe how fast she is growing. Anyone that knows Abbey, knows that she is 100% girl.  When she was learning her colors, she would only acknowledge pink and purple for the longest time.  She had selective color learning.  She is very into clothes and shoes and loves anything girly.  She loves animals and being read to.  She is a good eater and loves to be held by Shelley.  You will often hear her say "look mommy and daddy" while she's holding up a foot in some way or doing a silly pose.  She is very loved and we are so thankful for our little girl.  Here are some old and recent pictures of her.  

Idlewild Vacation

We made it back from our vacation to Idlewild Park.  We had a blast and the kids really enjoyed it.  The nice thing about the park was that it was perfect for Jake and Abbey.  They were able to go on almost all of the rides, either by themselves or with Shelley or me.  The second day, we did the waterpark, but after a couple hours it started raining.  We were all pretty disappointed that we didn't get more time there (Shelley and I were probably more bummed than the kids), because it was really amazing.  Overall we were glad that we went and we'll definitely make it back to Idlewild another time soon.  Click on the link below if you'd like to see more pictures of our trip.

Idlewild Pictures 

  

Idlewild, Here We Come

Tomorrow morning we are heading out for our mini family vacation to Idlewild Amusement Park and Water Park which is in Ligonier, PA.  We got a package deal through a hotel near the park, which includes two nights stay, tickets to the park, breakfast both mornings and a free pizza delivered to the hotel pool (which we will use our last day after checkout).  We were a little nervous today if this trip was going to happen because last night Abbey came down with a fever and seemed pretty sick all day, but she seemed to perk up tonight before bed so we think it was just a little bug that will pass by tomorrow.  Jim is off the whole week so we are super excited to spend this time together as a family.  Several families at our church have taken their kids to this park year after year when they were Jacob & Abbey's ages and they have all told us that this will be a great trip for our family.  We'll let you know :)

I also wanted to give a little update about my tests.  My cat scan showed that I have several small kidney stones and one pretty large kidney stone.  I am scheduled to have a procedure done in two weeks where the doctor goes in and breaks them up with some laser thing to make them smaller so they are easier to pass.  They then will put a stint in the tube where they go through (ureter) to keep the tube open because it often swells after this procedure and the doctor said that the stint can be pretty painful.  It will be in for at least a week, until the swelling goes down.  The doctor said that if I start having extreme pain (if they start passing before the procedure) to go to the emergency room.  I am thankful that we found these by cat scan before I just had to pass them by myself because I have heard from several people that it can be more painful than childbirth.  So, I will be glad when it's over and am praying that this isn't going to be a reoccurring thing that I will have to live with.  After the procedure, the doctor said that I will go through some testing to see what is causing me to get these.  It may be something in my diet or I possibly could be put on some medication.  Anyways, just wanted to let you know if you were wondering...  

We haven't posted in a while so I thought I'd post about a few things going on here.  On Sunday, early morning a Twinsburg Police Officer was shot and killed on a traffic stop (Twinsburg is a very nice community right near here where many of our friends live).  It is such a sad story... the man had been a Police Officer for 11 years and him and his wife just had their first baby 3 months ago.  This whole area is pretty shaken up by it and it hits very close to home for our family.  Jim and some other officers from his department will be going to the funeral on Friday. When I start to worry about Jim doing what he does, I need to go back to God's promises and remind myself that God is control of all things and His plan is perfect for our lives.  We are so thankful for many people that have just said "thank you" to Jim in light of this situation or who have told our family that they are praying for us as we process this horrible tragedy.

On a lighter note, but still kind of stinky... I am going in for some testing tomorrow to see if I have kidney stones.  Something is going on with me lately (I will spare you the details), so I am having two tests done to see what's wrong.  The doctor that I am seeing told me that I probably shouldn't nurse Micah for 24 hours after the one test (due to a dye that they will put in my body) so I am nervous to see how this is going to work out since Micah really has never had a bottle.  If you remember, could you please pray for the tests and also that we would make it through the day and night with this sudden change.  

And on a much happier note... Here's a couple pictures that I took yesterday of the kids.  Micah turned 6 months on the 4th and is really a sweetheart.  He is laughing so much at Jacob and Abbey lately.... it's so fun to hear that baby giggle :)

Happy 5th Birthday Jacob

Yesterday we had Jacob's birthday party at our house and tomorrow we will be celebrating his actual birthday.  We had a wonderful weekend celebrating our first born.  Jim's parents came into town on Friday.  We had a great weekend and as always enjoyed our time with them.  We were busy preparing for the party, but also had some great talks and good laughs.  Jim's dad was able to ride with Jim for a whole shift and they really enjoyed their time together.  Jacob's party was a blast.  We all had a great time and enjoyed watching him interact with everyone and just celebrating him.  He has been very into army stuff so he wanted a camo party.  Here are a few pics from his party (to see all the pictures, watch the slideshow to the left).  Tomorrow we will spend the day as a family.  Jim is off so we will be able to hang out all day.  Jacob's only request for tomorrow was that we have his favorite dinner... chinese - chicken with broccoli and white rice (extra sauce to put on his rice) and a fortune cookie for dessert.  So, that we will definitely do :)        

8 Years

Today we are celebrating 8 years of marriage.  It's amazing how fast that time has gone and we are so thankful for the life that God has given us.  We have grown together in so many ways and I'm so glad that we have each other as we continue on in this journey and see all that God has in store for us and our family.  We make a great team Jim!  Happy Anniversary :)