Singing over me...

This past weekend I was reminded of the following verse...

"The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17

Wow...he rejoices over me with singing? Really...

Then again in a song from Third Day's new album Revelation (the boys love this CD...so we are listening to it over and over again)

"Today I found myself after searching all these years
And the man that I saw wasn't at all who I thought he'd be
I was lost when you found me here
I was broken beyond repair
Then You came along and You sang your song over me
Feels like I'm born again, feels like I'm living
For the very first time in my life."

Lord let the repetition of these words imprint your truth in my heart and mind.


Here is a link to the song by Third Day...
http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ea7a6d6838cdba83e5ef

Maple Sugar time...

Attentitve little ones...

Mr. Ben making the "spile"...

crossing the stream to the "sugar bush"...

to tap for sap...

and finally tasting some maple sugar!

Reflections...

Wes was telling me that he wasn't able to pick up a document and asked me if I could...and Micaiah responded, "Daddy why couldn't you do that? I thought you could do anything."

Eight, Seven, Six...

The paper chain is made...

and the countdown is on...

We Can't Go Long Without Mommy!

We can go without baths, we can go without order...

we can go without naps, we can go without veggies and snacks...

we can go without many things for a weekend, but the fact remains...

we can't go long without mommy!

Welcome Home!!!
Yours truly, The Adventurous Boys.

Playdate with the Busy Boys...

I had a little fun with this picture...BK does this look right?

Josh and TK lined up for a game of "Shark and Minnows"...nothing like putting 6 boys in an enclosed area and running them until lunch time!

I missed getting a picture of SK and Eli...they enjoyed attempting an escape every time SH and I turned around!

Morning converstations...

Looking out our front window into the morning sky, Joshua sincerely said,
"God I want you to send snow,

not rain because that's not good."

More peekaboo photos...

Mondays with "GG"...

GG, your shirt says it all...we definitely had fun!

It was such a joy to spend time with you...

and see you laugh at the little guys!

We love you and hope to see you again soon!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our second annual special Valentine's Day message...

Dinner by candlelight...

no, not because it's close to Valentine's Day.

All I could yell was "Thank You God it fell the other way!" as I was standing at the kitchen window cleaning up from lunch. This is the tree we tried to "gently" tell our next door neighbor to take care of this summer.

It was way too close to the place where the boys like to dig (as you can see from the picture below). Well, it fell during the wind storm yesterday and the weight of it split the utility pole in two and pulled all the wires and our electric box completely from the house.

It could have chosen the path of the Holly tree where the boys picnicked just the day before.

Our backyard became a danger zone as the BGE employees worked through the night to restore power.

Yes, I do believe He was watching over us!

Under the Holly tree...

Thank you God for a glorious day and a taste of things to come...

In Christ Alone...

I cannot get this song out of my head today. I heard it this morning and have been mulling over it ever since...

just a few of the verses that I keep coming back to...

...

"From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny."

...

"No power of hell, no scheme of man, Can ever pluck me from His hands."

Click play...and enjoy!

-if you received this as an email through feedburner you may have to go to the blog site to watch the video (www.wjmace.blogspot.com)

Mondays with "GG"...

Guess who's coming to see you on Sunday?

They're ready...

for the next mission!

25 Random Things About Me...

1. I grew up in a trailer court in a small town in Pennsylvania.
2. Spanking was an allowable punishment in my elementary school in Pennsylvania. I can still remember begging my brother to put on his coat so he wouldn't get spanked. That was one of the reasons we moved to Maryland (Thanks Mom).
3. I got caught stealing school supplies from my teacher in 2nd grade..luckily my mother caught me and made me return them so I wasn't spanked (Thanks again Mom)!
4. Because of number 1, I am a Steelers fan and I don't understand why people in Baltimore think I should root for the Ravens.
5. My grandmother always told me to marry my best friend...I'm so glad I did!
6. I live just miles from my grandmothers birthplace and childhood home (we did not know that when we bought the house). We recently took her back to her childhood home and she told us stories that I will remember forever.
7. I have a friend that visited and said our neighborhood reminded her of a Norman Rockwell painting...I thought that was sweet and funny all at the same time.
8. I have three boys. Micaiah looks like my husband, Eli is the spitting image of me and Joshua looks like my cousin who passed away unexpectedly when he was 2 months old.
9. Regarding number 8...I have always believed and trusted in God but I questioned my faith more than ever after Kelsey passed away. Thank God for my husband and close friends that reminded me of His faithfulness. That tragedy will forever mark the way I view life and interact with those around me.
10. I ran the Baltimore Running Festival 1/2 marathon in '06 and I have no recollection of crossing the finish line...I do however remember asking the police officer on the side of the road for his bottle of water!
11. Regarding running...I jumped in and ran the last 4 miles with my Dad in his first Boston Marathon (he'll forever call me "bandit"). I'm glad I did it then because now I can't keep up with him and I will probably never qualify on my own accord!
12. My favorite season is fall...something about the cool crisp air.
13. I felt really challenged last year to focus on gratitude which made a big difference in my day to day life.
14. I was a pediatric physical therapist in the inner city before I decided to stay home with our kids. Working in the inner city was awesome!
15. I prefer a comedy over anything else...I love to laugh.
16. I am a big fan of ... (meaning I use "..." in place of proper grammar, I had to clarify because Wes was sure that I meant something else:)
17. I used to make "soup" out of rotten stuff from our garden and make my brother eat it.
18. I never ever thought I would home school my kids.
19. I played basketball in high school. They nicknamed me "the hacker." I could foul out in no time flat!
20. I love photography and want to find time to learn more about taking great pictures.
21. I always thought I would move back closer to my family but this is just right.
22. I am seriously addicted to chocolate chip cookie dough baked or unbaked I always have some around.
23. I was with my grandfather when he had a heart attack on the Super Dooper Looper at Hershey Park...yes, he lived to laugh about it!
24. My dad wrote me hilarious top ten lists when I was going through the toughest part of PT school (summer anatomy- dissecting a cadaver) that I still have to this day. He even named my cadaver "Don Leevmi Likthis.
25. I regret not taking my maiden name, Jordan, as my middle name.

Wes' List of 26...

1) Like my wife, I'm also a big fan of....
2) I like the history channel.
3) I love being a dad.
4) When I was in high school I was a band geek. Worked out pretty well, how many of you are still playing sports every week?
5) I should have been a baseball player. I can pitch t-balls with the best of them.
6) I've been in 6 countries in my life (Nicaragua, Guatemala, Germany, Canada, Bulgaria and the US).
7) Before I met my wife, I didn't eat desert after every meal.
8) I love the Yough Lake! I love the smell of it, the feel of it, to take a bath in it, to ski in it, etc.
9) I grew up in a trailer park that had over 200 trailers. We had a big wheel gang and everything. Every kid should grow up in a trailer park. I may sell my house. Are there trailer parks in Baltimore?
10) If I could be any animal I would be an eagle.
11) Bob Villa has nothing on me.
12) I play an American Fender Telecaster....at least I try.
13) I've always been blessed with great friends.
14) I love to give things away. Doesn't really matter what it is....except to car thieves of course.
15) My car was stolen a few years ago. My son wanted to lock the guy up for a thousand years. I think that would teach the guy a lesson.
16) It's hard to think about 26 random things when you're watching TV. I think the "multitasking" excuse is a weak way to say "I'm not paying attention to you". I'm back now.
17) I always wanted to marry a smokin' hot woman. Life just seems to work out for me.
18) I had a KISS album when records were still cool....I think I was 7 or 8. I also had a full console record player, in our trailer of course.
19) The first real job I had was at a place called Gyro King in the Morgantown Mall. That's in West Virginia. By the way, I grew up in West Virginia. (That's a bonus).
20) My favorite vacation was with my wife and kids in St. Petersburg, FL. It was after a long and stretching season in my career and it was just what we needed.
21) I never thought I would have kids. I really wasn't a big fan, or a little fan. Once I met some really good ones at the right time (Thanks Page's!) I had to try it out. Now I have 3.
22) My little sister rocks! I live vicariously through her now. She goes to college at Cal in Brownsville, PA and has a house on campus. I lived at home through college. The rent was awesome! I had $0 in loans when I got out. I also had no job. A Biology degree isn't something that you typically end with, but I was finished. That's OK, I like my job better than cells, plants and stuff anyway.
23) My first car was a Chevy Cavalier. Then I upgraded to a Dodge Shadow, which really wasn't an upgrade. I paid for that @#$#@$ thing at least two times. New engine, new clutch, new...... Now I'm a foreign motors kind of guy.
24) I'm a big Larry Norman fan, mainly the acoustic stuff from later in his career. It's authentic. My wife hates it.
25) I'm a technology guy, but I don't necessarily like where it's going. Humans were made for relationships and community. Facebook is great, don't get me wrong. But it's not the real thing. Neither is email, voicemail or the internet. I'm glad I know my neighbors and can hug my friends!
26) I'm glad to be known by God. The Bible screams that God was to be known by his creation. Somehow, we've corrupted the message but it's really simple. The way I feel about my kids....that admiration and love. That's God, and how He feels about us.

This week...

guess who's been battling croup?

He's grown accustomed to early morning showers...

with a few of his favorite animals

Mondays with "GG"...

GG, I was coloring with Mom Mom and I thought...

these markers make such beautiful colors...I wonder how they taste?

Weekend snowball fight...

Daddy had no mercy...

Poppy kept saying..."Dance, Joey dance!"

Micaiah and Joey awaited their fate and fought hard against the "big boys"...

Eli joined in...

I can't post the picture of Joshua that I took during the snowball fight...suffice it to say the snow was yellow when he was finished.