DIY Project

I noticed the other month that Allyson had quite a few necklaces hanging in her small jewelry box.  Her jewelry box is a very nice one, but is not the best place to hang necklaces as it is a bit too short.  It also wasn't very easy to see what necklaces you had, let alone to keep them untangled.  

So I decided to go online to see if there were any ideas for making your own necklace holder.  There were quite a few ideas to pick from, and here is what I ended up doing.  

All I needed was a smaller sized bulletin board, push pins, some fabric and a stapler.

A few weeks ago I found the bulletin board at JoAnn Fabrics, which happened to be on sale :o), for only $4.00, and I already had the push pins.  

And today I found a small piece of material at Walmart for only $1.00.

Turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself :o)

Merry Christmas

2013 Schrock Highlights

January - Janae loses her first tooth

February - Janae turns 6

March - Our one cat is diagnosed with hyperthyroidism

April - Baseball practices start for Janae - she LOVES baseball

May -  Let the games begin! (baseball that is)
   Allyson turns 9

June - Celebrate 11 years of marriage
          Swim lessons for Allyson
          Baseball season comes to an end

July - Mini vacation to the Columbus Zoo
         Our last tree in the front yard is cut down
         Finally buy a new (to us) van
          Kaycie turns 5

August - Swim lessons for Allyson and Janae
              School starts - Allyson 4th grade, Janae 1st grade, Kaycie kindergarten

September - Ride Pumpkinvine Trail from Goshen to Shipshewana (16 miles)

October - Three girls = three field trips for Cindy to go on
                Drive to Sarasota, Florida for fall break . . . the longest and farthest we’ve been away
                 from home

November - Janae gets glasses

December - Allyson and Janae receive distinction of “Model Citizen” at school

(This was included with our annual Christmas photo card.)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Nothing Exciting - Just About Walking

This morning while dropping off the girls at school, I had, what I thought, was an interesting short conversation with a lady.

I should first preface this by saying that due to the transportation cuts more kids are walking to school and a whole lot more are being dropped off via car than ever before.  Traffic can be total mayhem on some days, so that's why we are going to walk (both before and after school) as much as we can this year - to avoid the traffic!

Since there are sooo many more vehicles dropping off kids in the morning, the school started having parent volunteers help out in the morning during the drop-off time.  They help direct the traffic and get the kids out of the vehicles, so that the vehicles can keep moving more efficiently.

This morning there was one lady helping that I hadn't seen before.  As I was heading back out to the sidewalk to walk home, she started talking to me.  She told me that she's seen me walk for quite a while and has watched the progression of how times change. Where when I started I was pushing two kids in a stroller, then I was down to one in a stroller.  And then I had one in preschool, so I took her back home with me, and now you are dropping all three of them off!  She asked how old is my oldest, and I told her 4th grade.  She said her oldest is in 5th grade, so she has watched me for a long time :o)

It just strikes me as me as interesting sometimes when I hear someone say "yeah, I see you walking your girls to school".  And it's usually from someone you don't really expect to hear it from . . . like this parent you've never met before or a nurse at nearby office.

I also had an instance the other year when I would have this car honk and wave at me, like they knew me, but I had absolutely no clue who it was!  It happened on the same day almost every week, but nobody I knew had a car matching the description.  I kept waving whenever they honked hoping that one day I would know who it was that I was waving to.  And I did eventually figure it out.  One day I was finally able to get a good look at the driver, and here it ended up being one of my mom's first cousins!  What a relief to finally know who it was I was waving at, and, of course, from then on, I waved and smiled a bit more enthusiastically.  :o)

With this all said, I guess it just goes to show how busy our road really is.  One thing I can take away from this is that I should probably make sure I don't pick my nose or do anything embarrassing since I have no idea who might be driving by! :o)

A Prayer for our Children and our Schools

I found this online at wendyblight.com via Proverbs 31 Ministries and thought it was a beautifully written prayer.  May we all be praying this for/over our children!

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Prayer for our Children and Our Schools

Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of children.  Thank You that before time began You knew these families and friends would be interconnected through Your Holy Spirit.  We humbly come before You today recognizing these children are only on loan to us.  As each year passes, they become more and more Yours, not ours.  We ask You to help us release them to You so that You can accomplish Your will for their lives.   How hard it is to let go.  Help us as parents, families, and friends to get out of the way so that You can accomplish Your work in their lives.  Help us to trust You.  Give us the grace to wait on You.  Your timing, Father, is perfect.  

Father, we pray that each one will know the depth of Your great love for them and know that You gave Your Son, so that they could have life forever with You!  

Father, we pray that they will call upon Your Son Jesus and confess Him as Lord and Savior of their lives.  

Father, we pray they will develop a great love for You and a deep desire to have a personal relationship with You.  

Father, we ask that You cultivate in each one a heart of prayer.  Lead them to depend solely upon You for their every need.  

Father, we thank You that You created them with a specific plan and purpose for their lives. Thank You that they are valuable and precious in Your sight.  Father, give them the mind of Christ that is theirs in You and help them to fully know and love who they are in You and this great plan You have for them.  

Father, we pray Your protection over them by the covering of the blood of Jesus.  Give them discernment to recognize Satan's lies and temptations.  Grant them extraordinary wisdom and strength to combat Satan's work through the power of Your Holy Spirit.  

Father, may each of them know how extravagantly and unconditionally You love them.that You will never leave them or forsake them no matter what they do.  May they be secure in that knowledge.  Show them in very personal and powerful ways how wide and high and deep and long is Your love.  

Father, we pray that they will treasure Your Word above all the riches in this world.  Give them a hunger to read it and learn it.  Teach them to love it and live their lives according to it.  

Father, write Your Word on their hearts.  Give them a heart to understand and obey it above all else.  Move their hearts to live their lives according to Your Word.to live a life that honors and glorifies You in all they say and do.  

Father, we pray that they will honor their bodies as Your temple and keep themselves pure in every way.  Instill in them that they are created in Your image and are worthy of Your highest and best for their lives.  

Father, teach them to submit to those placed in authority over them.  Father, give them hearts of humility.  Protect their hearts, keep them free of rebellion and disobedience. 

Father, draw godly friends and mentors into their lives.  Give them friends who are true, wise, kind, and encouraging.  Give them great discernment as they choose those whom they will date.  May all dating relationships make You the center and honor You.  

Father, we ask that Your Truth will reign supreme in their hearts and minds.  May they base their lives on the Truth of Your Word and not the lies of this world.  We ask that they daily renew their minds with Your Truth and keep their thoughts on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent, and worthy of praise.  

Father, teach our children to trust in You with all their heart, lean not on their own understanding, and in all their ways acknowledge You so that You will direct their paths. 

Father, fill our children with Your joy, not happiness, but true joy found only in You.  

Father, consume their hearts so that they desire only You.  Protect them from being people pleasers.  May they stand confidently in who they are in You!  

Father, we pray the armor of God over our children:  the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the sword of the Spirit, the shield of faith, the belt of truth, and the shoes of the gospel of peace.  

Father, plant Your love, Your presence, and Your Word deep within their hearts.  May Your Word reach into the marrow of their bones and ignite a passion that is unquenchable.  Cause them to love You with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength and let NOTHING override that passion.  

Father, as they spend their days at school, let them stand apart.  May they be light in darkness, joy in sadness, peace in discontent, and order in chaos.  Let their character and integrity shine forth like the sun!  

In their schools, Father, we pray that Your Word and the fear of the Lord would be the basis of wisdom and instruction.  Father, we ask that You take our prayers and blanket each school, placing them under the shadow of Your wing.  

For those teachers that believe in You, strengthen them and uphold them with Your mighty right hand.  Father, give them an extra measure of wisdom, knowledge, and revelation to excel as teachers and shine in darkness.  Provide them with opportunities to share their faith with faculty, staff, and administration and give them the courage to do it.  

We pray for every level of administration.  We pray for wisdom beyond comprehension as they make decisions for the schools and school systems.  We pray divine direction.  We pray that You would direct the steps of those making decisions for our children.  Make Your way clear and place those who walk with You in places of authority and decision-making.  Bless their efforts.  Give them favor.  

Through Young Life, church youth groups, and other student ministries, use leaders and students to sweep each school with revival and evangelism.  Guide, bless, and empower the leaders and students through the power of Your Holy Spirit.  Go before them and open doors.  Father, we boldly ask for many to come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior and yield their lives to Christ.  

Father, as we end our time in prayer, we boldly ask that You would grow each of our children in wisdom and stature and favor with God and with man.  Thank You in advance for all You will do in and through our prayers.  We ask this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ our Lord!

Fall Break Road Trip

Since our school system has a one week Fall Break, we decided it would be a great time to take a road trip . . . to Sarasota, Florida.  As a family, this would be our first and longest trip away from home.  We knew the girls in no way would survive driving straight through to get there, so we made the decision to drive it in two days.  We arrived at our hotel about 12 hours after we started out Saturday morning.  We arrived at our final destination Sunday afternoon about 4:30pm (after about 9 hours of driving).  It was sooo good to finally have made it!

Here are just a few of the many, many pictures that were taken along the way.

The traditional "welcome to Florida" picture :o)

On Monday we headed to the beach.  A perfect day for it too!  The temps were in the upper 80's with higher humidity.  The water was great.   The waves were fairly low.  And the best part, the beach was not crowded.  This time of year is the perfect time to go . . . all of the "winter birds" have not yet arrived, and it's not prime tourist season either (Christmas Break or Spring Break).

 We were fortunate to have use of my aunt and uncle's golf cart.  The girls loved taking a ride around the neighborhood.  A quick side story . . . the second time we took it out, we discovered that we hadn't let it charge up long enough before our first ride!  On the way back to the house (once we realized we were running out of power), I told Allyson to pray that we can make it back across the main road, that way if it runs out of juice, we can at least push it back home.  Fortunately, we made it back without any embarrassment. :o)

Of course we had to take a picture of this! :o)

On Tuesday we went to Lido Beach to collect shells.

On Wednesday we headed to the Mote Aquarium. 

The girls loved being able to touch the sting rays.

On Wednesday evening we headed back to Lido Beach to catch a sunset.  It wasn't the best of sunsets, but I'm not complaining.  I love the beach!

On Thursday we headed to Legoland (about 2 hours away) . . . a great place to go if you are ever in Florida.

This day was overcast and cool, and I'm not sure if it got much above the low 70's.  Once again the perfect time of year to go - not crowded at all.

Yes, this car is made out of Legos.

They have an area called Mini-Land.  All of the different places depicted are made out of Legos.  A few examples of the places they made are The White House, NASA, the Statue of Liberty, The Capitol, The Daytona Int'l Speedway, etc.

Just goofin' around while waiting on Rodney :o)  I think it turned out great even if Janae's mouth got cut off.

On Friday morning, we started back out in the direction of home.  I know the girls were ready to be back as they were already asking earlier in the week "when is it time to go home?"  Like I said earlier, this was the longest they've been away from home - ever!  I know they thoroughly enjoyed themselves, but home is always a good place too.

We finally made it home Saturday evening, and what a great feeling that was!  Kaycie immediately went to her room and started playing.  Rodney made the comment  that she acted like she had a whole week's worth of playing to do.  :o)  Before we left I made sure the girls had clean and tidy rooms (I like coming home to a clean  house), but I'm not sure why.  I think that within a half hour or or less, Janae and Kaycie's room looked like a tornado had gone through it!

With all this said, vacations are always a good thing, but coming home is too!

Vacation Ponderings

I don't know about you, but it seems like every time we head out on vacation, at some point I think about this . . . about how big the world really is.  Have you ever thought about it?!  Yes, I know the world is a big place, but when we are so in the routine of home, of our neighborhood, of our town, we can easily forget how big the world is or how small we really are in the scheme of things.

Driving down the highway there are thousands of cars, trucks, RV's, semis all around you. Each carrying an individual(s) who each have their own lives, their own routines just like us. Where are they going?  Are they heading to work? vacation? to see family who live far away? or just heading home?  Do they have a good life or a hard one?  Do they know Jesus?  Are they searching for Him or not even trying?

And then these questions even compound themselves when you wind up in rush hour traffic! So many people, so many lives that we don't really ever think about . . . unless you are like me and are heading out on vacation.

With so many people in this country let alone the whole world, you could start to wonder how does God even know me?  or even remember me?  Our finite minds can't comprehend this, but that is one of the great and unfathomable things about God . . . He does know each and every one of us!  We don't have to keep reminding Him of who we are and what our circumstances are . . . He already knows!  It blows my mind if I ponder this too long.

Another thing I think about when driving along is the trees.  Ever think about how many trees there are on the mountains you drive through (and the ones you aren't driving through)?  And then how many individual leaves there are on each of those trees?!  It's almost like the grains of sand on the beaches.  I love driving the highways in the fall when the leaves are changing color!  A beautiful display of God's handiwork!

Field Trips Galore

This fall has been a busy time for going on field trips for me . . . 3 field trips in 4 weeks time!

Allyson's field trip was the first one.  The 4th graders went to a 38th Annual Trail of Courage Living History Festival.  When I arrived at the school, I quickly discovered that I was Mr. Nice's (Allyson's teacher) only parent volunteer.  That meant instead of only a few kids to be in charge of, I would have a whole lot more!  Mr. Nice had decided that I would be in charge of the 11 girls, and he would be in charge of the 11 boys.  I was a bit concerned on how it would go, but it turned out to be a good day.  All of the girls seemed to get along and was just a good group of girls.  I decided to call them "The Nice Girls" . . . not just because they were all nice, but as I stated earlier, their teacher's name is Mr. Nice. :o)  So yes, I was heard yelling a few times "hey, Nice Girls - this way!"

Sorry, I don't have any pictures as I didn't take my camera.  There was a chance of rain that day, and I didn't want to take the chance of my camera getting wet.  One thing I liked is that all the 4th grade classes made tie-dye shirts (each having different class colors) a few weeks earlier, and they are to wear them on all field trips, concerts, etc.  It sure made it a lot easier to keep track of my girls.

Two weeks later, it was Kaycie's and the kindergartners turn.  Their field trip was to a local farm, and it was an absolutely beautiful day!

Hayride

part of my group

picking pumpkins

They all had a chance to pet a goat

and a calf.

learning how to make butter . . . shake, shake, shake!

And then two weeks after that (which was the last day before fall break), I went with Janae and the 1st graders on their field trip to an environmental learning center.  For a while I was told that once again I was the only parent volunteer, but, fortunately, another parent decided to come along.

A week prior the weather forecast wasn't looking very favorable, but as the day got closer and closer, the forecast got better and better.  It ended up being another great day for a field trip!

playing with toys that they would have had 100 years ago

making apple cider

hayride

shelling corn

grinding the corn kernels