Good News of Great Joy!

Merry Christmas from snowy Pennsylvania!

"And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:10-11

(Had to include the two out takes!!)

Family night

We just started something new tonight...weekly family night. I have been reading a great book about pastoral ministry called "One with the Shepherd...the tears and triumphs of a ministry marriage" and this was one thing the author suggested. She was talking about the importance of making time for your marriage and our kids in the midst of the demands and pressures of pastoral ministry. As we start this new journey of pastoral ministry with Matt as the Senior or Solo Pastor, we are trying to set some healthy habits for our family.

The idea of a family night is to pick a night where the only plan is to be together and to pursue time with our kids and each other. Nothing fancy, just special and purposeful. This can be a time especially for our kids to assure them of our love and commitment to them, since we will often be loving and caring for others too. We want them to value caring for others but we also want them to know they are loved!

Tonight we went to dinner at Chick fil A and then we came home, put Lucy down and played a game of Sorry with the boys. They got to stay up an hour later than normal. Other weeks we may watch a movie while eating dinner or eat dinner here and go out for ice cream or go see the lights around town, etc.

It was a real sweet evening and we all look forward to this new time. If we come up with any super fun ideas, I'll be sure to post them!

Writing with Spaghetti!

Today we used a fun, edible, sticky item to work on spelling words and the letter/number of the week...SPAGHETTI!!

I got the idea at this website:
http://creeksidelearning.com/2012/11/06/writing-with-spaghetti/

Here are some pictures:

First days in Carlisle

Here are some things from our first 8 days in Carlisle. We didn't get a picture of the moving helpers on either end, but they worked real hard getting the truck packed in Richmond and then unloading at our apartment and storage unit here in Carlisle! Thank you! This is the front door of our apartment in Carlisle. The wreath was a gift from my friend Jennifer, it's perfect since winter has already come! Matt and the boys put lights up on the tree outside. Didn't think we'd jump from "fall" in Richmond to winter in PA, but we did! Glad we got some new winter coats!!

Owen was given a gumball by Mr. Pete at the pizza store Saturday night - it was his first time chewing gum. He loved it! You could tell he felt very grown up!

Pennsylvania welcomed us!

The playground in the apartment complex we are living in for the next 5-6 months while our house is being built. So thankful for this!

My first "bagel time" in Carlisle! Glad they make bagels and coffee here :)More glad that God is here - the simple truth that we teach our kids "Where is God?" "Everywhere!" is actually quite profound!! Thankful it's true.

These are the mountains we will be able to see from our front door when our house is ready! So thankful for a beautiful part of the country to live in!

We survived our first day back at school - even had some Owen and Lucy reading time! Hoping for God to meet us in this as well and get us back into the swing of things real quick!

Final days in Richmond

I just wanted to catalog some of the final things we did in Richmond. I wish I had taken a picture of every thing and ever person those final weeks...God provided us with lots of play times with friends, visits to parks, lunches and dinners out with people we love...this is a good sampling! (Unfortunately I can't get these in order...oh well!) Our final night at El Paso - our date night and family night spot for 5 1/2 years. YUM!

This is the session and some friends praying for us at a very dear good-bye party at church our final day in Richmond.

Final UR football game...and they were playing the Dukes!

One final trip to see Mr. Andy at the fire house!

Raking helpers! They worked so hard raking and playing with our kids so I could pack and then they even brought us Chick Fil A!! We love you guys!

We went to say Thank You and Good Bye to our pediatrician, Dr. Scott, and his staff! They took such good care of our kiddos since Owen was 1 year old! Thank You West End Pediatrics!!

Kitchen packing party!! These ladies worked SO hard - we did rest a little to eat some ice cream and pray - getting our kitchen packed up for us. Did you know how much stuff you can pack into one kitchen?! Amazing! Thanks ladies for your friendship and help!

We made it!

We have been in Carlisle, PA for 8 days now! It is so crazy to think that all of our fixing of the house, packing, saying goodbyes and moving are all in the past! We have been doing really well overall...the kids are each acting out in more extreme ways, we are a little more irritable with each other or finding it hard to figure out what to do at a given time, which reminds us that we are all in transition! We are asking God to meet us each in the specific ways we need, and to provide all that we need! We have been welcomed with eagerness here which is exciting! We attended worship on Thanksgiving Eve and this past Sunday and I was able to attend the ladies Christmas dessert and white elephant gift exchange which were all great. It is neat to start to get to know the people and town that God has called us to!

Saturday night we had a fun "get to know Carlisle" night that Matt planned for us. They were offering FREE horse drawn carriage rides downtown, followed by the lighting of the Christmas tree in the town square. Then we were going to try a new pizza place...very important to find our new go-to pizza place!

Well, it was EXTREMELY windy and VERY cold, but we went for it anyway...some of us having a pity party about the cold even though I grew up in the North! It was a blast! The carriage ride was real sweet and then we were so cold we watched the tree lighting from the car and warmed up with some pizza at George's. We came to find out that George was a Christian and now his son runs the shop and he is also a believer. We chatted with him for a while and it was neat to hear some of his story. And the pizza was great! Thankful for some new memories in our new town!

One week to go!

This blog update has been brewing for a long time! If word has not reached you yet, we are getting ready to move to Carlisle, PA in ONE WEEK! Things are pretty hectic here. As a simple snapshot of that, today during "rest" time, Matt was on the phone learning about various types of health insurance, I was cleaning up school from today, getting school ready for tomorrow, reading my Bible for a moment and packing some boxes, two men were working on our house to fix some things found in the inspection, a termite inspector was walking around, Owen was writing a story on the computer, Baxter was talking to the termite inspector :) and playing with his Rescue Heros and Lucy was sleeping through it all! This whole job search/house preparing/moving process has been one that the Lord has used in MIGHTY ways to grow us and change us as well as open our eyes to who HE is and what HE is doing. There were lots of times that fear and anxiety and panic attacks and head aches were so intense for me as we waited and wondered and processed through many applications and a few interviews. But through it all, we see God's hand very clearly at work! He sustained our marriage. He opened a door very clearly for Matt to receive a call at a PCA church in Carlisle, PA where he can use the gifts and passions that God has given him in new ways and serve and love the people of CRPC. He sold our house in ONE day! He led us to a great apartment to rent while a house is built in a new development 3 minutes from the church. He provided the boys with instant friends in one of the families at the church. Etc. Etc. Etc. We are sad to leave Richmond, that is for sure! This is the town where we have learned the first lessons of what life as a ministry family is life. Matt has done his first weddings, baptisms, and funerals. We have laughed with and cried with people. We explored countless parks and fun kids activities with sweet friends. We have brought two of our three babies home to this house from the hospital (the third baby was only 1 when we moved here!!). We weathered bedrest here and were cared for so well by our doctor and hospital and church and family. We started our homeschooling adventure. It's been a big 5 1/2 years! We are sad to go! And yet, we are so thrilled at God's providence and so eager to see what He has for us in this next step of the journey. Would you pray with and for us? We have a buys final 7 days in Richmond and would love your prayers for health, patience, grace and strength! Pray for our kids as they process leaving and say good bye and for us too! We look forward to sharing more of this journey with you as we go! But for now, to God be the glory, great things he has done!

A day in the life of Owen and Baxter

I thought I would write a post about a "day in the life" of Owen and Baxter. Here is a picture of each boys "work boxes" that I put all of their work it. Owen's Thursday work:

From top to bottom... --Journal - this was like pulling teeth last year, but he loves it this year! He typically draws a picture or two and writes a sentence or two. I have very little "rules" about this time. He is pretty much able to do what he wants. --Math - we are using Saxon 1 for math this year which has been way too easy for Owen, so I'm trying to skip ahead to the lessons that will challenge him and also not miss anything I assume he knows. We will take a break from Saxon tomorrow and do a word problem page instead. --For writing we are using "Writing With Ease" and he does some copywork and some narration (we read a short story together and he writes down one or two sentences (with proper capitalization and punctuation) about something he liked in the story. --We are using Explode the Code Book 3 for phonics/spelling - he does about 4 pages. Tomorrow he will also do a word search I made online HERE with some of the words from his lesson. --First Language Lessons is his grammar book - tomorrow he'll draw a picture of our family and label each person's common and proper noun (mom, Mommy; brother, Baxter) to work on capitalization and such. --Story of the World Volume 1 is our History curriculum. Tomorrow we will use Playdoh to make a "tablet" with either cuneiform or hieroglyphics. We are studying Ancient Egypt and their first writing practices. --Our last box is for science. Tomorrow we'll read about a specific family of mammals - the burrowers - and make a rabbit paper bag puppet. Baxter will join Owen for the puppet project. --After all of these, Owen does silent reading for about 15 minutes. --Somewhere in there we will take a snack break (the highlight of the morning!) and I generally read aloud one chapter of a book, we are currently reading "Mr. Popper's Penguins." We love it! Baxter's boxes...

--He will read a BOB book and use the magnets and cookie sheet to spell some of the words he read. --A "hidden letter" sheet for the letter of the week - D - where he colors lowercase d's one color and uppercase letter D's another color. --Counting practice - he has to count the dinosaurs on the page and use the dot marker to dot the same amount of dots (if there are 5 dinosaurs he does 5 dots). --Since O gets to play with Playdoh, I set some out for B too! -- He does Get Ready for the Code working on letter sounds. I thought he'd do 1 page a day, but he loves it so much he often does 3 or 4! --Writing practice for the number of the week - 4.

Fall

Fall is ALMOST here...we have been counting down the days! It is by far the favorite season for our whole family! What's not to love? Pumpkins, chili, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin muffins, leaves, etc. etc. One of the things we'll be doing this fall is watch how this dogwood tree in our front yard changes. Owen will be taking a picture of it either every other week (every other now, every when it changes more noticeably). This will be a great science lesson on seasons and change and such, but I am just realizing it will also be a great spiritual lesson as well. There are times that we are full of life - brimming with good fruit (summer) - and there are other times where we are being tried and shedding some layers of sin and bad fruit (fall) - other times where it seems there is no life and no fruit at all at work in us (winter) - and then the wonderful season where signs of new life are all around us (spring). I need to remember that - I tend to get discouraged by the falling leaves or the seemingly barren tree branch, forgetting that God's power and work and love are coursing through that barren branch, ready to produce something wonderful and good and beautiful!

Three

These three take so much time, energy, food, love, patience, joy, etc etc etc. But I am so thankful for them!

Soccer

This past Saturday was the first of many Saturdays spent on the soccer field for the Purdy family! It brought me back to my days as a soccer player starting in elementary school (I even bought the boys Gatorade water bottles, the old green kind, to reminisce!). The boys looked so grown up and so precious...I mean tough :) in their uniforms! They had a blast. Owen is on the VULTURES with some friends from church and his coaches are two dads from church. It was as much fun to be a fan (with the other mommys and daddys) as it was to watch Owen play! It will be a treat to spend Saturday mornings with these other families! Baxter is on the KANGAROOS. Here are some really neat things about Baxter's team. 1. My first soccer team was also called the Kangaroos! 2. Baxter's head coach's name is Baxter (he goes by Trip). 3. There is another boy on Baxter's team named Baxter! (son of Trip). 4. The assistant coach on Baxter's team is Matt. Matt really enjoys getting to help coach B's team - he says it's like VBS only it's on the soccer field. Lots of chances to love the kids and encourage them and cheer them on! I look forward to getting to know some of the parents on B's team as well. It was a joy to see the boys run out on the field and work hard and have fun! Also, Lucy enjoyed some time with Grams and Grampop on the sidelines...I might have to line up some Lucy helpers all season long, it was a real treat to have them helping with her! Thanks Grams and Grampop! Here are some pictures of before we left, we'll take some action shots in the coming weeks, I'm sure!

Some days...

Some days I feel like this! Tired, cranky, overwhelemed, anxious, etc. I'm pretty sure that the Lord knew that when He said, "“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV) Thank you, Jesus, Amen!

GAP

Here is our family picture this year from Cousins Camp...the Gillan And Purdy (GAP) crew! Can't believe how grown up everyone is getting! Thankful for my family and this time together each year. Thank you God for my family and for being faithful to us each where you have us!

Back to School!

Today was the first day of school for us! It went really well - a lot of the things I was worried about were not as hard as I feared! I think it's going to be a great school year, but I am going to be one tired Momma! Phew! Owen did a great job with his new 1st grade material - he didn't even whine or complain once about the handwriting he had to do (which was more than K, and in K he complained about it a lot!!). He was joyful and engaged with it and it was neat to see. Baxter was busy as always, but he did settle into a few of the things I had for him. He got really into an activity where he had to color in 6 apples (A is the letter of the week, and A is for apple) and cut them out and glue them on a brown bag I cut out of construction paper. He did great with it! Lucy enjoyed the toys I set out for her, took a short nap, and then did pretty well post-nap. She was a little clingy, I think she missed me. I missed her too! I will continue to figure out how to love her and not just shover her in the corner with fun puzzles and toys while we are in school. It is a joy and a privilege (and a LOT of work!) to be these kids teacher. It is neat to watch them learn and grow and just to spend time with them. Three sweet things that happened today were Baxter telling Owen he is a genius, Owen reading a book to Lucy, and Owen telling me that Rhode Island is the 50th largest state in the US with a sweet smirk and giggle during his silent reading time while he was reading a book about the United States. Here are some pictures capturing our kiddos on the first day of school. My how they have grown! Owen - 1st Grade

Baxter - PreK

Lucy - Teeny Tot :)

Me and the kids

Songs in the car

I am convinced that the music we listen to our car is about 90% for me and 10% for our kids. God uses it in big ways to speak to me and remind me of certain things throughout the day. At any given moment we are either listening to Magic Treehouse books on CD (these don't have that same effect on me!) or some sort of Bible songs for kids or other children's worship music. I am not necessarily against other kinds of music, but I am convinced that having the Words of scripture floating through our car has only a positive effect. There have been MANY times that we have had a hard time getting to the car (lots of disobedience by the kids and lots of impatience or angry words from me) and I turn the car on only to hear "God made you special and He loves you..." (Andrew Peterson) or "You are always loving, You are never rude..." (Be Like Jesus by Soverign Grace ministries) or "Do not be anxious...about anything...but in everything...by prayer and petition with thanksgiving in your hearts..." (Seeds Family Worship). It has a way of melting my hard heart and softening it towards God and my kids! Today it was a free CD that we found at church that contains songs that would go along with an old Sunday School curriculum. We've he the CD for years now, Owen likes to listen to it during his rest time some days. Somehow it made it's way into our CD changer in the car. As we drove along today two songs struck me and just washed the Truth of God over me. One was speaking about God calling us to share His love with other people, and the promise that He will be with us wherever we go. The simple reminder that wether I am at home or out and about, or for my friends who are overseas serving Christ and His church there, or wherever we find ourselves from day to day that He is with me. How is it that the most simple truths can be so profound?! If He is with me, I need not be afraid. If He is with me, I have strength to parent my three kids even when it's really hard. If He is with me, I can make it through the day even when I have gone to bed late the last few days getting ready for school to start. If He is with me, I can enjoy fellowship with Him all through the day. The other song was a simple refrain of "God is good" but it was sung in a few different languages. That served as a reminder that this God who is with me and who is my God is such a great and wonderful God that He is known in every language by people of every trip and tongue and nation. What a great God! It's His world that we live in, and it's in Him that it all holds together. Good news was washing over me and filling my heart and mind with the glorious reality of our God and His love for me. Thank you God for using such simple means to remind me of who you are and of your love for me!

Cousins Camp

We have returned home from Cousins Camp - hard to believe we've been home for a week already! It was a really great 10 days spent in Harrisonburg at my parents house with my whole family. 16 people, 8 adults and 8 children, 6 of whom are 6 and under. Lots of energy, lots of fun, lots of laughing, lots of fits, worth every minute! The boys really loved playing with their cousins and aunts and uncles and grampa and gramma. Their highlights were "Cousins Camp Olympics" consisting of events like the long jump, the running of the torch, an ice cube relay, etc.; the "hike" we did at Massanutten and the Massanutten Water Park. Lucy took a while to warm up to all of the excitement (lots of "mommy, mommy" was heard) - her highlight was playing with the girl cousins and playing with Anna's American Girl doll. Matt and I enjoyed getting time with my family and eating Costco Apple Pie and ice cream EVERY NIGHT! No joke! Pictures don't do this time justice, but here are a few to get a feel for it. Can't wait for CC 2013 next year! (l