A City Life For Me

I often think that I should write a post about products that have worked well for us, but I never get around to it.  So here it is…a few of my favorite things! APPS I have an iPhone, so these apps are all from the Apple Store :: Build a Menu – this allows me to take my menu planning service on the road with us. We often try to stay in Prophets Chambers so that we can have some routine and stability for our family even on deputation. But that means that we are responsible for preparing all of our own meals. This helps me save money, time preparing the shopping list, provide variety in our meals, and keeps all the recipes in one place! :: Blue Letter Bible – I started using this Bible Study app when I began the Busy Mama Bible Studies for my devotions. Some of the features are only available on wifi/data connection. But it gives me a Strong’s concordance, lexicon, interlinear definitions, related word studies, commentaries, and more at my fingertips. I love it! :: Waze – we use ...

For Nolan’s birthday, we celebrated a week early in order to do it while we were at home.  The kids got to borrow some adjustable roller skates while we were on deputation, and they seemed to like it.  There is a new-ish roller skating rink at Brooklyn Bridge Park on Pier 6.  I’ve been wanting to go there anyway, so we gave both Elaine and Nolan some skates and took them skating.  Elaine did better than Nolan.  He got tired of falling on his bum, and took the skates off, but then eventually he put them back on.  (Poor guy is a klutz like Mommy).  Grandma outfitted them with new helmets, too.  It was a lovely evening to walk by the East River and view the city.  The kids were on and off the rink, and we even let the twins have a go.  Nehemiah is a natural athlete and did fantastic, even skating without the support bar! A tradition from Ben’s side – you get to pick out a cereal (the “junkier” the better).  He looks really happy here...

I actually got to take these at the beginning of the month, but for 2.5 weeks of our deputation travels we had no internet and only sporadic cell signal, so posting was out of the question! Nolan is a master pouter.  I see this look too often! But when he smiles, he is irresistible! (Same pic, B&W) “I’m four now!”  (Excuse Elaine in the background!)

Today everyone is posting about how grateful they are for their fathers. And while I am certainly thankful for my father, and now my “bonus” dad – my father-in-law – today I wanted to talk about a different father. Someone that I could not do without – the father of my kiddos. I don’t talk about Ben very much here on the blog. The kiddos pretty much get the spotlight. But today is Father’s Day, and I didn’t think I could let it slip by without bragging on the awesome dad that my kids have. Especially since I am missing him today, and Father’s Day is incomplete without him. When we were dating, Ben asked me how many children I wanted to have. My reply was, “Eight.” I’m not sure what made that number come out of my mouth…I always hated babysitting and as a teenager was adamant that I didn’t want to have any snotty nosed kids. Maybe I was trying to scare Ben away, or see how serious he was about our relationship. But as it became clear that we were going to get married, we “decided” that...