Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.

A Happy and Beloved Reformation Day to you all!!
My party in 4th grade went very smoothly.  I will even post some pictures.  The kids had a blast and I am now tired. :)  Yay Mondays.  Now I'm just waiting for the slew of more neighborhood kids in costumes to show up....so I can show off my awesome Reformation Day t-shirt that I'm wearing.

I taught about the Reformation to my students all last week and many times it distracted me.  I went on tangents about grace and how we don't deserve God's love but He loves us anyway, etc.  I also was able to hear President Harrison's sermon at St. Lorenz...and he also pointed out that Reformation is all about  repentance.

Luther's first point in his 95 Theses is that "a believer's life should be one of repentance."  I normally had not thought about the Reformation being a time to repent.  I guess I also had not ever looked in depth at many of those theses. :)  After reading and pondering many of Luther's statements, it is clear that the Reformation has everything to do with it.  Having a repentant heart is what Luther was trying to teach.  I often don't think that I must be repentant ALL the time...just when I've done something wrong.  I guess that DOES tie in with his statements of "drowning the old Adam" every morning when we wash/shower.  Yay, Baptism!

It opened my eyes and I just wanted to share that with you all. :)

This week is going to be busy for us here.  Caleb is reading for grad school almost every night and when he isn't reading, he's writing a paper.  We also have like a bazillion meetings this week...and we are hosting a pre-Thanksgiving meal at our home with the immediate family.   Lots of preparation is needed for that but I really can not wait.  I've always wanted to cook a Thanksgiving meal for a large group of people.  I can handle 7 people.  Haha.

Is tomorrow really November?

In other non-related news...I got my LOFT credit card today in the mail.  YES. Trouble is a-brewin'. :)

Happy Week before Reformation!

Reformation is a big deal to me.  This year I am going ALL out for my 4th grade class at school.  I have stocked up on items from the great www.oldlutheran.com and am ready to PAR-TAY on Monday.  We've been reading this week (from a sweet 16 page booklet from CPH) all about the man, Martin Luther and his life.

I am enjoying giving my students some background on Lutheranism in general because I think Marty isn't mentioned all that much at school, home, or dare I say, even church?  Maybe they just don't pay attention but most of my students did not know anything about Martin Luther, calling him MLK Jr. 

NOT the same person, kiddos.

Anywho, here is the run down for our party for Monday, October 31st:

Friday (as we pre-game it) we are going to be painting t-shirts to wear for Monday.  We will also start watching the film, "Luther."

Monday we will:
-finish the film
-copy a page out of my Spanish Bible (for Spanish class)
-Copy pages of Luther's rose to hand out to other grades/classes
-Read Paul Maier's story of Luther
-Have a "Mighty Fortress" building contest out of LEGOs.
-Play the Saint/Sinner wrap (where we wrap each other in praying positions...with TP)
-play "Pin the 95 Theses on the Wittenburg Church Door."  Complete with foam hammer, courtesy of www.oldlutheran.com
-Reformation baseball trivia (with inflatable bat and ball)
- Snack on a "Diet of Worms" (aka chocolate pudding, oreos, cool whip, and gummy worms)
-prizes are Luther head silly bands

I am so looking forward to the cheesiness and awesomeness that will follow on this day.  I hope my kids have as much fun learning about the Reformation that I am (and will have).


On non-Reformation related news, Caleb was gone at Hartley Outdoor Center for the past 3 days.  I am glad to have him home.  I know he had a great time with our 6th grade students leaning about "pioneer living."  He says the food is always good...and the company of the other adult chaperones keeps him coming back.  I'm just happy not to be in a cold, dark house by myself anymore.  At least Jeanette Weilnau kept me company.

Caleb has also started his 2nd grad class...and discovered that it is WORLDS harder than his last class.  He has to write papers now in APA...which neither of us learned in school.  So he is thrilled to have to learn that as well as read 4 new books in the next 8 weeks.  I know he can do it but I think he is feeling the weight now of school work AND grad work.  Prayers for him will be accepted. :)

May you all have a blessed week, stay warm, stay healthy, and if you can come to St. Lorenz in Frankenmuth, MI this Sunday at 4pm for a sweet Reformation Vespers.  Sermon will be courtesy of the LCMS prez, Matt Harrison. :)  Oh yah, Caleb is also playing in the brass section.

Ugh, Sports

I've just about had it with professional/college sports this weekend.  I was sitting here after finishing watching the Lions game and I realized that I was exhausted.

Not tired, but emotionally exhausted.  I've been SO into those Tigers winning the ALCS(which they didn't. Grrr, Rangers), hoping U of M can keep their perfect record(which they ruined yesterday by losing to MSU), the Lions keeping their perfect record( which THEY ruined today by losing to San Fran), that I am beat.

I am tired of sports for a while.

It didn't help that all day yesterday we had people at our house until 7:30...and then we went to BDubs to watch the Tigers game.

I never thought that I could get so emotionally invested in sports.  Michigan football, yes.  I've always loved them.  The Tigers though really had me worked up.  I've been watching every single game since April!!!  I need a break. (Caleb, are you listening?) 

Thank goodness that the NBA is in a lockout.  I can't stand NBA in general let alone it being the only sport to watch in the evenings now.

Okay. I'm done. With sports rants.

I do have to make a confession.  It isn't a super serious one that you need to get worked up about...but the baby itch is getting to me.

I will admit that I am longing to have something to look forward to.  Having a baby is something that I've been looking forward to for my whole life.  I look forward for the "happy/idealistic" parts of pregnancy.  I do also look forward to the challenges of raising a child with my husband. Caleb however, can stand to wait a little longer.  So, no babies for a while. :)

I've thought instead( to distract myself) about getting a cat sometime because I've never HAD a pet and I love kitties.  Easy fix, right?  Well, getting a pet in the middle of the school year makes me nervous because we both are gone so much during the day.  I'd rather spend a lot of time getting acclimated with the animal before leaving it alone for 6-8 hours a day.

I just hosted my first Thirty-One party and it was a BLAST.  Plus, it was awesome to get so much free stuff just for hosting!  I love my new bag and if you've never heard of Thirty-One, you should check it out.  www.thirtyonegifts.com 

Enough about me:

Caleb is really into his grad classes and is enjoying finding things that he can practically use in his classroom.  His first class is over after this Friday.  He is excited to get 1 weekend free of extra homework.  Haha
He is also in the thick of the First LEGO League season with the 5th-8th graders.   His Mondays and Wednesdays are busy with practices. 
His birthday is approaching too (He'll be 25! Old man!!).  Gotta think of some present ideas. :) 

We've also started transforming our basement into a different hangout/man cave/work out area.  It is a work in progress. :)

That is about all the new stuff for us!  Many blessings to you all!