879 posts....

WE HAVE MOVED:

http://theclarkchronicles.com

PLEASE COME SEE US!

After 879 posts.... let's make it an even 880. (Hey! That was my bus number in the 5th grade!) Yes, I think 880 is a good number for a grand finale and an inspiring number for new beginnings.

I'm thinking it's time. Time to tell you all what I've been working on for the last few weeks. (And you thought I wasn't posting because I had a newborn! Ha!)

Blogger has been good to me but because it would not allow me to merge alll of my blogs into one, I've had to migrate on over to Word Press. I'm totally digging it.

Won't you come join me?

(What am I talking about??? WE FINALLY HAVE THE NEW BLOG UP!)



http://theclarkchronicles.com

Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Out and about with Daddy!

The {2 older} kids spent the morning with Bruce running some errands (Doc office, Bank, SIR PIZZA) and now are asleep in their beds.

Sarah and I stayed home and chilled. I had big plans to clean out the hall closet (got about 1/2 way finished) and then I sat down for a minute and checked my bloglines reader and saw THIS. How much tragedy can a family take? After reading it, I went in and picked Sarah up from her swing (she was sleeping peacefully) and I just held her and cried and thanked God for her and for every good and perfect gift He has given to us. I am heartbroken for their family. Angie Smith has been such an inspiration to me ever since I found her blog just a few weeks before Sarah was born. Oh that I would have that kind of faith. Oh, how I pray that I will never have to find out!

WFMW: The chore chart

***Bumping this post for WFMW! Originally posted 8/29/07 (And it was actually on a Wednesday! :lol)

So... I made this and like it a lot so I thought I would share!

We needed a way around here to keep up with all the great things Abby is doing to help around the house! She's really been "into" helping lately so I thought we'd do something fun and have something that we could "show" Daddy when he came home. (Because you know by the time he gets home, all the chores we've done have been "undone" some how!)

I bought some magnetic sheets at staples and then designed the "base sheet" - Then I made little "tiles" and designed them using different chores like sorting laundry, clearing the table, making the bed, helping make mommy's bed, etc.

(She also earns a little mini jelly belly jellybean for each chore she does. Guess that's a motivator, too, huh?)

She wakes up wanting to do chores! (Nathan likes to HELP, too!)

BY THE WAY... I custom make these to sell to moms who don't want to fool with making one themselves! (The link above is an old one for a mamamade show we did last year but the info is still relevant!)

CLICK HERE
for some of the available designs!

Here's one I made for my niece!




You want one??? E-mail me at: julie h clark at comcast dot net

In the packard

Bruce and the kids took a ride around the block tonight. They were pretty excited!

Sneak Peek

I think for Father's Day, Bruce might be getting a pair of overalls!




*Bruce has found some land to share with some cattle folks! It's what he'll "do" on summer break and the kids love going and seeing the cows. The land is just 15 minutes from our house! It's a little "experiment" for him in raising cattle to market locally. In the fall, we'll be selling some hormone free, all natural, grass fed beef! If you're interested, e-mail us!



This could be your dinner in just a few short months!! (Sorry to all you vegetarians out there! :lol)

Last Day of school 2008

Today was Abby's last day of MDO for this year. They had a "splash party" and a half day today. Abby got to wear her swimsuit to school and she was pretty excited about getting to show off her big sister.

We're so thankful that she got to go to school where Daddy works and go in and come home with him 2 days a week. It's special daddy / Abby time for them. She made some new friends and got to know some old friends even better and her teachers were so loving and sweet. (*And* they didn't call DCS on me for doing things like sending cream cheese frosting sandwiches for lunch.)



(She also spent the whole morning before school pretending that she was "drinking her morning coffee" out of this Starbucks cup. When did she get so big?)

Seems like yesterday was the FIRST day of school. She's grown a lot this year.

Dance with Cinderella

I am sure that many of you have by now heard of the tragic death of Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter Maria.

As we took our after dinner stroll with the kids and put them down for bed tonight, we took our time and were more deliberate about not rushing through the teeth brushing, prayer time, story time and goodnight kisses.

I can only imagine that there are hundreds of thousands of parents across the globe tonight who are touched by this tragedy who did the same. Not that it makes what the Chapmans are going through any easier at all but I know that hearing the news of this has inspired us to hold our children closer and to take their requests for silly, seemingly unimportant things more seriously.

HERE is a video with the song "Dance with Cinderella" along with a segment where Steven Curtis talks about the inspiration behind the song (which was actually inspired by 5 year old Maria).

Bruce has taught many of the Chapman children over the years. I went to pick up Abby from her last day of MDO and the mood over at the school today was somber to say the least. Please keep the family in your prayers. If you feel inspired to do something in Maria's memory, the family is asking that you donate to their adoption ministry in lieu of flowers.

There's just so much that I want to write about.

There's a lot of things going on that I want to blog about but:

1) I do not often have 2 hands free to type (I currently have Sarah asleep on my lap in a position that actually allows me to have both hands free so I am taking advantage of it.)
2) Most of the things that I want to write about are top secret - I could tell you but then I would have to kill you.
3) I am in the process of trying to figure out how to get all my blogs in one place and I am hesitant to do a lot of posting in the reorganization process. (What was I thinking? One blog per kid? And a recipe blog? Oh the stupidity!)

I will throw you a bone on the top secret topics: I am super proud of my husband! He's pursuing some alternative career paths - slowly and carefully - and is doing a terrific job at it (and doing it in such a way that does not send his wife into panic attacks). God is blessing his efforts. He is still a teacher and will continue to be for {insert undisclosed amount of time here} but it's exciting to see God fulfilling the desires of his heart in some other areas. (Think cars and cattle).

Thanks for hanging in with us! Soon and very soon, (I hope!) I'll have a cool new all-in-one blog!

Sweet.

Today Bruce and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary.

We're both pretty frugal and hesitant to spend wads of money on things like birthdays and anniversaries but we'd always said that for our 10 year anniversary, we'd do something big. (Well - We did do something big - We had a baby! :lol) Because of the arrival of sweet Miss Sarah, we're not doing the *big* thing this year (you know, something like actually taking a vacation or something really wild and crazy like that!) but we'll set aside some money and PROMISE that we will do it next year. And we'll be taking a vacation WITH the kids, more than likely, which is really how we'd prefer it. Maybe we'll do something with just us in the fall if we think Sarah's up for it - Time will tell.

In the meantime, we went out this evening as a family to one of our favorite restaurants - Carrabbas - and enjoyed a really lovely night out. Abby and Nathan were extremely well behaved (the wait staff even made compliments on how good they were - guess they see a lot of out of control kids - little do they know they just happened to catch us on a good night! ha!) and Miss Sarah was content just hanging out in her carseat right by the table.

These last 10 years have been the best of my life. So far. Never in a million years would I have imagined my life would be this sweet today. It is truly "exceedingly abundantly above all that I could ask or think" - I love you Bruce. Thank you for making our lives so wonderful!!!

proof

That Bruce is a great daddy.

He's always kind of rolled his eyes when I cut the crust off sandwiches or made them into shapes. ("what a waste!") but when he had to make Abby's lunch for school and she asked for a "butterfly peanut butter and jelly sandwich" he lovingly and willingly "wasted" the edges of the bread.

Inspired By Meredith

I have been enjoying reading Like Merchant Ships lately and THIS POST inspired me to do something special with the lovely bouquet of flowers that Abby picked for me this evening.


It also inspired an idea for a Mother's Day gift for our gathering on Sunday! Thanks, Meredith!

Sisters

Abby adores sweet little Sarah.

She was reading her "Anne Of Green Gables."

Oh, life is so sweet.

Big Sister.

Just one more day and she'll be a big sister to TWO littles!

HERE is a video from 2 years ago - almost to the date - of her practicing her big sister skills in anticipation of Nathan's arrival.