The Missing Piece

I knew there was something we were missing, but I just haven't been able to figure it out.

It's a tiger.  That's what we need.

Today at our parent/teacher conference, Neil's teacher explained a little more about these fantastic peaks into his little imagination that we are getting.  She said that she always gives the kids a question, and they have to answer it in words and then draw it out.  It's part of their writing curriculum, and in it, they are looking to express detail. 

It's hard to argue with this.  That is some serious detail.

Grrrrowl!

(By the way, Neil's teacher gave him high marks in almost everything, with the exception being penmanship...not because he can't do it, but because he rushes and his work ends up sloppy.  Thank you, competitve spirit, for that one!  So we're going to work on that.  Also, he is still quite tired in the afternoons, so 2 days a week, he will be coming home at half-day, and we'll keep evaluating in case even more time at home would be good for him.  After this year, we won't have a choice...it'll be all day, every day for the next 12 years.

A few more afternoons with Neil at home will be good for me him.  He's growing up so fast...)

I love my family!

Yes, this might be the first family photo that I've posted on here....only took me 7 months!  :) 

Taken at Shem and Noel's wedding in Kansas...

It's Coldddd around here!

Beth and her baby, Cassie, all bundled up and ready to go...we had a mild December, but winter is definitely here now!

Thoughts on Inspired to ACTion

I just introduced myself on the Maximize your Mornings group on the Inspired to ACTion website.  Here is what I wrote:

Hi, Kat and everyone reading--

I am Hoffbeauty, and my dear friend just told me today about your site for the first time.  She and I are what we like to call "procrastifectionists", so we understand each others' pain.  Even now, I'm hesitating to start this process--or even to write--because I know that I will fail.  If I can't be perfect, then I just wait around, hoping that one day I might be.

Wrong!  I KNOW that I can't/won't be perfect, and that is the point of the Gospel.  Unfortunately, I often fall into the trap of believing that that which is false is, in fact, the truth.  Who will save me from this body (and mind) of sin and death?!?  Jesus will--and He has!

For a long time now, I have known that I need to grow in a number of discipline areas in my life.  I am not a very good cook (I don't enjoy it, so I never seem to get any better.); I really don't like doing laundry; and I tend to lose my patience easily.  Oftentimes, the reason that is behind the great dislike and the lack of patience is the fact that I haven't planned well--that I'm not disciplined.

I have been given the great privilege of raising four precious kiddos--9, 6, 3, and 2...and we are hoping that there will be more one day.  I feel like I genuinely need to see some growth in these areas so that our family can flourish!

(That was way more than just giving my name.  Oops.)

I want to get up in the morning because I want to be up and ready before my kids.  I know that my day always goes better all around when I have spent time focused on the Lord and His Word in the mornings.  I would like to never again be throwing together lunches when the kids are walking out the door.  I would like to put makeup on every now and then.  I need to exercise, and I never have time if not in the morning.  And I want to blog.  I seem to have an efficiency deficit, and I can't help but think that getting up early and giving my day to the One who made it and gave it to me in the first place would help me to know Him more and be more of the kind of wife, mother, friend, sister, and daughter that I want to be.

My obstacles?  I'm a night owl (I'm writing this with tons of energy at 12:16 a.m....and this is early for me.).  And I love the snooze button.  I actually enjoy getting to go back to sleep for a "few more minutes".  Of course, my husband hates hearing multiple alarms (Who can blame him?), and I am not loving him well by snoozing.

Thank you for what you are doing....I'm thankful that the Lord has led you to minister to so many women in this way, and I'm excited (and a little hopeful) that He might use you and others on here to grow me in His likeness.

-Hoffbeauty

::

That's me.  That's where I am, folks.  If you are reading, will you come along on the MYM journey with me?  Will you pray that God will grow me in the very needed areas of discipline?  And will you rejoice at the work that He will certainly do?

Lord, you know how very weak I am.  You know that I long to be a better wife for Hoffbeast and a more patient, loving, and fun mama to Rex, Neil, Beth, and Tom.  The longings of my heart regarding my own effectiveness are never going to be met if I am operating in my flesh, and I admit right now that I have been doing that for far too long.  All my efforts fall short.  But praise God that I don't need good wife, perfect house, delicious cook, or patient mama righteousness.  Jesus plus nothing.  And because of His righteousness, I bow in worship and adoration, and I offer my meager, weak, sin-filled flesh to you for your purposes.  You can take the ashes that I offer and give back beauty.  Holy Spirit, I need you, and I'm sorry that I have disregarded your power.  May You shine and receive the honor and glory due You.  In Christ's Perfect Name, Amen.

Mobile Catches of the Day

Today was one of those long-but-good days.  Today, I am thankful for the village (my friends) who help us raise our children well.  I am thankful for a country full of charity and good will, where children who are born with congenital disabilities can receive medical treatment at very little overall cost.  I am thankful for my smiling little loves, who run up for hugs and kisses when I've been gone for even a couple of minutes.  I am thankful for the resiliency and personality of our precious new son, who dazzles me each day with his smarts.  He is curious and mischievous and wonderful, and his language development in seven months home has to be off the charts...I love him.

Today, we traveled to Shriner's Hospital for Children, where Tom was seen by an orthopedic surgeon.  We are very much looking forward to getting this surgery show on the road, and it looks like it will likely happen within the next few months.  We are still deciding whether we should have the surgeries at Shriner's or at our Children's Hospital, but today's visit at Shriner's was very good, especially thanks to Jose, the financial counselor who works with families and talks through all issues related to payment.  I had some questions, and he answered them as best as he could--and didn't make me feel dumb in the process.  At the end of the appointment, the nurse asked if Tom likes cars.  He and I both answered in the affirmative (in our own ways), and I expected her to return with a Matchbox car.  She brought him this.  He squeeled...it was pretty cute!  I'm sure, Daddy, that he was actually squeeling, "It's a Fooooooorrrrrrddddd!!!!"



I'm not sure if it will upload, but I took a video on my phone during the time in between seeing the resident and seeing the surgeon.  After the resident examined Tom's hands and feet and had left the room, Tom became the "doctor" and kept crawling up onto the rolling stool to examine my hands.  He would say, "I check Mama's bumps."  Then he would hold each of my hands in his, turning them over and then saying, "Okay."  He would then get off the stool, go stand on the scale, go over to the wall chalkboard and write something, then come back to the stool to start all over again.  This went on for 20 minutes.  He was cracking me up!  So smart!!  He was such a brave guy, engaged in the whole thing...and only cried when the mean lady tried to stick that temperature thing under his arm!  Can you imagine the horror???!!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, one of my friends took Beth with her for the day; our intern picked Neil up from school and took him to basketball practice and then home; and Rex--he got to go to a Milwaukee Wave (professional soccer) game with his good friend, M.  M's mom texted me this picture...big smiles all around! 

(Thank you, Nancy, Bridget, and Kari...for loving our kids along with us.  We were blessed (again) by each of you today.)

Christmas at 2319

We have a tradition.  Each year, we start our Christmas morning with pancakes (made lovingly from scratch a box by the Daddy) and presents, with just our immediate family.  And then around lunchtime, our invited guests show up for Christmas dinner (usually a mid-day meal) and watching a movie, usually The Sound of Music.  Somewhere in the evening, our guests return to their homes, and we finish the day off with a few minutes of just us again.  It's a nice tradition.

Last year, we had to change our plans because we weren't in our house due to the boiler saga.  This year, things were a bit different again, but this time because we spent Christmas morning at my parents' house with my extended family.  So for our Christmas tradition, we celebrated again....on New Years' Eve!

This year, we only had one guest for lunch/dinner.  Shirley has been part of the tradition for many years now, and we were glad that she could join us again.  Hoffbeast met Shirley at our local Starbucks a number of years ago, and it has been a joy to have her as part of our annual celebration ever since.  Deshawn joined us later for the movie, this year a showing of The Nativity Story.  After everyone left, it was just us...and then after the kids were in bed, Tang came over and joined us for ringing in the new year.

We are usually at Christmas Conference on New Year's Eve, so this was very strange.  Our first time being home since 2005, just before leaving for Ethiopia to meet Neil.  A ball drop, praying together, and about 100 gunshots later (a strange and not-so-wonderful tradition here in the central city), the new year was here!  Welcome 2012, and Merry Christmas to all!

(The start of January hasn't stopped me from playing Christmas music and lighting candles at night, as I sit and read, write, and ponder in front of the Christmas tree and all the lights.  Hoping our tree will last for another month or so...)

Hello, 2K12!

The amount of things that have transpired between my last post and now....well, let's just say that it's a pretty big number.  We celebrated Tom's first Christmas at home with us--3 times, once with Hoffbeast's family, once with my family, and once here at home with just us.  It is so wonderful having him home!  At Christmas 2009, we had only just accepted his referral the month before and gotten to see our first video of him.  By Christmas 2010, we had been waiting for over a year and were ready for him to be home!  But God's timing is the best, and passing scrutiny was the good news that offset the bad news of the boiler going out--all on the same day!  We would start 2011 as vagabonds, camping out in the 3-digit days with our friends, Tim and Andrea.  Today, we watched the Packer game at their house, and as our then-combined 4 children has now grown to 7, we wondered if the neighbors were worried that we were back for another 3-month stint!

Tom is ours, and he is such a Hoffkid!  Perfectly fits in, and he and Beth played together this evening and then laughed for a half hour in the tub together (before finishing it off with screams that led to the end...lest the reader think that it's all giggles and smiles--just mostly!) just before saying nigh-night and slipping off to dreamland.  They are best buds, and it blesses my mama heart every time I see it.

Since I last wrote, we have traveled to my parents' and back, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and Christmas, and had our house broken into.  Oh yes, and.......the Big Reveal happened.  Better than any reality show I've ever seen on TV was the reality here at 2319 on the night of Dec. 20.  When Hoffbeast and his Trek were re-united.

By far my favorite Christmas/birthday gift I've ever given was the gift of getting his beloved, stolen-this-summer bike back!  I am incredibly thankful.  That last sentence, just so you know, is a pathetic description of how I feel.  I am grateful beyond words.  God chose, in His grace, to walk up to a haystack, reach His all-knowing hand down into it, and pull out a needle.  It was amazing to watch.  Thank you, Lord!!!!!!!

Everyone is asleep (Well, I hope that Rex is sleeping...he's at a sleepover tonight with his friend, J.), but the Christmas tree--which I fully intend to keep up 'til the end of the month--has beckoned.  I love this time of year in our house....thankful for this place we have called home for the last 7 years.  Thankful for life.  Thankful for health.  Thankful for His grace, for my friends, for my children and my hubby.  Thankful for the baby, born in Bethlehem.....who came and lived and died so that Life could really be lived.  May His name be praised forever and always....and this year--2012--may It be proclaimed, believed, lived, loved, and worshipped more each day in my own heart.  He alone is worthy.