Nostalgia

I remember when I used to beg my parents to let Wendy "spend the night with me" in my bed. So when Joshua started in with the same plea last night, I could hardly say no. It brings me to tears almost on a daily basis to see how much these two love each other. To see Caleb run up to Joshua for a hug several times a day, or to see Joshua rush to Caleb's aid when he can't get a puzzle piece to fit or wants a book read to him is enough for me to want to stop time to savor the moment a little longer. I'm so thankful to see our prayers for them answered & I can't wait to see how their relationship grows. There's nothing like having your brother (or sister) for a best friend. I know from experience.

Oh, and Joshua did end up back in his top bunk before the night was over. After talking with him this morning, it sounds as if Caleb may have inherited some of his Mom's sleeping habits.
~T

Dr. Nuzum is Boring

So, instead of listening to my well-prepared lecture on diabetes, my students are scouring the internet for things like the video below. At least its factually accurate.

Ella Grace

Dress for the occasion!

I finally got a chance to sit down and watch our pastor's sermon from this past Sunday since we missed it due to the kids being sick. My mind is swimming right now from all that the Lord is speaking to my heart through his message, but I'll try to make it concise (stop laughing D). He talked about becoming a visionary and opened the message with Proverbs 29:18 ~ "Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint" He also pointed out the difference between a daydreamer & a visionary is the audacity to act. Most of us are educated far beyond the level of our obedience & we don't act on what we know is right. Simply put, we have to walk the walk if we're going to talk the talk. And many times that means stepping out by faith to what God has called you to do, even when everyone else thinks you're crazy. Take into account - Noah. Nobody around Noah (nor Noah himself) had ever even seen rain. But "by faith, Noah, when warned about things not yet seen...built an ark to save his family" Heb 11:7. Am I willing to step out on faith according to the vision God has given me for my life & my family, regardless of what the world thinks? Pastor Steven also pointed out what he calls the "life cycle of a vision" as illustrated in Genesis 6. vs 12: "God saw..."; vs 13: "God said..."; vs 22: "Noah did..." Pastor also illustrated it this way: "Have you ever been on your way to a wedding & had to stop and fill up your car? How would you feel standing there in a tux (or a dress), putting gas in your car?" We must "dress", or build our lives, NOT around where we ARE, but around where we are GOING. I cannot tell you how accurate he was in his sermon concerning the way I have felt about certain things I KNOW God has called me to do. But am I going to "dress down" in order to fit in, or be willing to "stand out" and dress for where the Lord is leading me? This also convicted me in the area of parenting in general. I need to make sure I'm parenting my kids, NOT for where they are now, but for where they are going. They may get mad at me today for the discipline I give out, but I know it will "produce a harvest of righteousness and peace" for their future (Heb 12:11). Is there something you know the Lord has called you to do, or a promise He has given you? Maybe it doesn't quite make sense, and you're not sure how you will get there, or how the promise could ever come to fruition. Well I say go ahead and get dressed for the occasion. "Your word is a lamp unto my feet & a light unto my path". He may not put a floodlight on your situation, but he will give you enough light for your next step.

Perks of homeschooling

No dress code!

September 2008

Today

A Great Song

One of the things I struggle with most in my day to day walk with Christ is guilt. Satan knows this and shoves it in my face as frequently as I let him. It's usually a result of some random cascade of memories that started out innocent and nostalgic, but ends up with, "oh yeah...I did/said that." I know now and at the time that the memories are flashing in front of me that those sins are long forgiven. But somehow, Satan still manages to make me feel bad about myself and that I'm not worthy of the salvation that I have received. It's times like this that the Lord gently reminds me of His unconditional love for me. Often I "end up" reading the perfect verse for the situation. Probably just as often, the Lord speaks to me through a song.

The song below is one of those songs that I just happened to stumble across at the perfect moment. The first part of the song is a confession of straying away from Him. The second part is God's response. The song is called "Times" by Tenth Avenue North. (If you want to hear it there are a number of unofficial videos on YouTube)

I know I need You
I need to love You
I’d love to see You but it’s been so long

I long to feel You
I feel this need for You
I need to hear You
Is that so wrong?

Now You pull me near You
When we’re close I fear You
Still I’m afraid to tell you all that I’ve done

Are You done forgiving?
Can You look past my pretending?
I’m so tired of defending what I’ve become
What have I become?

But I hear You say
My love is over
It’s underneath
It’s inside
It’s in between

The times you doubt Me
And when you can’t feel
The times that you question
Is this for real?

The times that you’re broken
The times that you mend
The times you hate Me
The times that you bend

My love is over
It’s underneath
It’s inside
It’s in between

The times that you’re healing
And when your heart breaks
The times that you feel like you’ve fallen from grace

The times that you’re hurting
The times that you heal
The times you go hungry and are tempted to steal

In times of confusion
In chaos and pain
I’m there in your sorrow under the weight of your shame

I’m there in your heartache
I’m there through the storm
My love I will keep you by My power alone

I don’t care where you’ve fallen or where you have been
I’ll never forsake you
My love never ends
It never ends

Things we love about our kids

Joshua

~ he is the sweetest, most tender-hearted boy I know.

~ I love his smile.

~ he has a servant's heart already & always wants to help anyone that will let him.

~ I love how much he loves Ella, wants to be right at her side at all times, & can make her smile better than any of us!

~ I love how excited he gets every Sunday to tell us what he learned at church.

~ I love that EVERY day when he comes in from playing outside his first words are, "Where's Caleb?" and the next are "Hey buddy!" and they run and hug each other.

~ He refuses to admit that a "light saber" is not a "light SAVER".

~ I love the way his jokes make no sense at all but he laughs at them himself...for a long time. Then we get tickled at just watching him laugh which makes him think he told a really good one.

~ He gets the hiccups when he laughs hard, just like his dad.

~ EVERY time he takes a bath, he gets out and lays on the rug in the fetal position with his towel over himself to "get warm" & he's actually fallen asleep twice.

~ I LOVE they way he jams to Toby Mac in the back seat of the van playing his air guitar. But if you shift your eyes ever so slightly to the rear view mirror to look at him, he stops. (That's when I put on my sunglasses)

~ He always wants to help me in the kitchen & gets especially excited when he gets to wear his apron and chefs hat and make cookies

~ Last night after he read a book to Caleb and I was on my way to finish our bedtime routine, Joshua stopped me and said, "It's ok, Mom, I already read his Bible and prayed with him"

Caleb

~ He's always good for a laugh!

~ He's extremely curious. (yes, really) But regardless of whatever mischief he's gotten himself into for the day, I've learned to go ahead and laugh.

~ I love his blue eyes and the fact that he's the only one in the family that has hair you can run your fingers through.

~ I love that he already has such a dry sense of humor. He will do something he knows is funny but won't crack a smile.

~ When he does laugh, he gets the hiccups.

~ I love that he talks to himself (he totally got that from his Mom). Like after he puts the silverware away he says, "Good job!" or as he's coming down from Joshua's bunk bed, "Be keful!"

~ He loves to help like his brother & every time he hands you something he says, "He-we-wah" (Here you are) Not sure where he got that.

~He loves "pecaroni" pizza & has the book "Groun Bear, Groun Bear" memorized (Brown Bear, Brown Bear)

~ Whenever he has a dirty diaper he announces that he's "got a rock!" Just be sure he doesn't catch you in the bathroom or he will announce it on your behalf as well.

~ He also loves to jam to "Togy Mac".

~ He won't let you dry him off after a bath until you play peek-a-boo with him; or as he says, "kiddie-poo!"

~ I love that he can't hold his blankie without sucking his thumb.

~ I love that he always has to shake his rear end when he gives you a hug.

~ He gets hurt so often that when it happens now he immediately says, "I fine!!" before we even ask.

~ I love that he's taught us SO much: crayon will come off walls with WD40, permanent marker doesn't stain the skin for too long but Expo markers will NOT come out of bed sheets (believe me - I tried everything), if you put a brown paper bag over red candle wax that has spilled on the carpet, and then iron over it, it will come out - completely!! If you accidentally grab the bleach solution when hot chocolate gets poured on the carpet, it will take care of the chocolate but won't bleach the carpet at all! (I'm NOT kidding - bleach!)

Ella
~ I love that she's a girl :)

~ I love that she smiles a lot and is starting to laugh (which gives her the hiccups every time)

~ I love that she smiles the most when Joshua walks in the room, and starts screaming when Caleb walks in the room.

~ I love the dimple on her left cheek.

~ I love that she's sleeping through the night!!

~ I love that she has discovered her hands and is batting at her toys.

~ I love when I go to check on her in her crib, expecting her to be asleep, but she's just laying there wide awake and gives me that smile that melts my heart.

~We just love 'em!!!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Things I love about my husband

Our pastor's wife, Holly, has declared this week "love week" in honor of Valentines Day and has been blogging about things she loves. I know it's already Friday but Valentines Day isn't until tomorrow so I'm not really late yet. Here are some things I love about Donnie.



~ His eyes...from the beginning...ask my Mom.

~ He hugs me & tells me he loves me every single day.

~ I love that he tries so hard to convince me that he's laughing "with" me and not "at" me.

~ I love that he's ok with having cereal for dinner and even asks for it sometimes

~ He irons his own clothes and never complains about it (to me).

~He gets the hiccups when he laughs too hard.

~ About once a month I wake up on Saturday morning to a quiet house because he has snuck the boys out for pancakes. All the other Saturdays, he makes pancakes at home.

~ He can "read" me perfectly, knows when I've had a bad day, and sends me to Starbucks or Target while he puts the kids to bed. (Yes, I said Target - I think you moms will understand)

~He cares about his students almost as much as he does his own family and takes every opportunity to share the love of Christ with them.

~ I love when he takes Joshua to the golf course with him even when he knows it will slow him down.

~ I love that when Joshua started crying because we were not going to church, his immediate response was, "get your clothes on and lets go" after being up all night with a week old baby.

~ I LOVED seeing the "I just won a million dollars" smile on his face when Joshua gave him a light saber for his birthday.

~ Even though frustrating at times, I love that Caleb can give him "the look" and the discipline Donnie was about to administer goes flying out the window.

~ I love that he has never worried about a thing in his life until he had a daughter. (I can see right through you honey - no need to hide it anymore. Seven minutes of crying at 3am will not scar her for life - I promise)

~ I love that I see him growing in his relationship with the Lord every day and that has set his mind to press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called him heavenward in Christ Jesus.

~ I just love him.

Gum anyone?

Oh sorry, Caleb ate it all. Should we be worried?

Happy Birthday D!

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! I hope these pictures speak louder than words because I'm not sure where Caleb is. (I know you will understand) I love you!!

Monday mourning

So every week Joshua learns a new Bible verse & I try to discuss with him what it means so that he understands it instead of just memorizing it. His verse for this week is Psalm 119:105 "Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Here was our Monday morning discussion we had before starting our schoolwork. Me: "So, what do you think this verse means?" J: "I don't know." "Well, what is 'Your word'?" "God's word." "And what is God's word?" "The Bible." "So, if the Bible is the 'light unto our path', then it helps us to see which way to go, right?" "Well, I can see where I'm going and I want to go play!"
Who else can relate to this on Monday morning? I know I can!

Our future worship leader

This has Chris Brown written all over it.

Our newest addition

So the Nuzum family has grown by two. Last week Joshua got two tadpoles in the mail from his Aunt Wendy for his birthday. Now as much grief as I could give my sister for giving me two more little lives to be responsible for, I'm probably as excited as Joshua is about watching our new little friends morph into leopard frogs. Well I've been trying to decide how to incorporate them into our homeschooling and decided to make a mini unit study out of them since Joshua has been a little bored with his Science book anyway.

So today we worked on creating a "frog folder" for him and talked about the life cycle of the frog ie. egg-tadpole-froglett-frog.... So later, as he sat drawing pictures of his tadpoles, I asked him if he could tell me what he learned about how his tadpoles will change. This was his reply: "Well first they were eggs, then they hatched into tadpoles, then they will turn into....mmmmm.....omelettes?" They never cease to keep me in stitches. Here are a few pictures of J studying his tadpoles. Stay tuned for when they turn into omelettes.

Kicking and Screaming

This pretty much describes my state of mind as I enter the blogosphere and write my first post. But here I sit, succumbed to the pressures of family and friends, very reluctantly accepting my husband's invitation to become the primary author of our new family blog we've coined, "Nuzumania". I have to thank my husband for the clever title which very aptly describes the general atmosphere at the Nuzum home. (Some of his other ideas were "Caleb Rules" & "Three is Enough" :-) ) I apologize beforehand that the writing will not be near as creative or thought provoking as Donnie's. But then again, with our kids being the main subject matter, it shouldn't be difficult to make it somewhat entertaining. So what better way to start off than a "Caleb story"? Don't worry, the house is still standing, he's still alive, and nothing has been damaged beyond repair (stay tuned!). I just thought I would share something funny he said last night. Many of you may remember when I was in my first trimester of pregnancy with Ella and Joshua and I had this conversation:

J: "Mom, I don't think I want another baby"

Me: "Why do you say that?"

J: "Well, I already have Caleb. How am I going to take care of another baby?"

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I was in my first trimester and very sick, and he HAD been taking care of Caleb! So I've been trying my best since then to take the pressure off of him to be the primary care giver of his brother. But despite my best efforts, the truth was confirmed yet again last night. I was reading about Noah to Caleb from his Bible and afterward explained to him that God had taken care of Noah. Here's how the rest of the conversation went:

Me: "God takes care of you too, just like he took care of Noah!"

Caleb: "Uh huh!"

Me: "Who else takes care of Caleb?"

Caleb: "Mmmmm.....Joshua!"



I give up...



Welcome to Nuzumania!

Superbowl Sunday

After a great morning at church, we came home and made the final preparations for the arrival of my Uncle Ken and Aunt Mary Lou to arrive. They live in Ohio, but had spent the week in Brasstown, NC at the John C Campbell Folk School and decided to spend a day with us before driving back to Wooster. It is this pair of elder Nuzums we have to thank for introducing Joshua to the Wii several months ago. So, I guess we can also thank THEM for the pummeling that each of us suffers each time we try to beat Joshua at any of the games. As you can see below, we made sure Uncle Ken understood how much we appreciated his influence.

Later that evening, Mary Lou and Ella enjoyed telling one another stories. It was a great visit.