The Great Outdoors

 I'm behind in blogging.  Today is Nick's birthday and I'll post tomorrow about Nick and his birthday!  I can't believe he's 10.  I know that's what every mom says but when your youngest reaches double digits, well....it's just bittersweet.  Anyway, last week Mike created an outdoor movie theatre and wow, did we have fun.  The weather was perfect.  It was like we had it directly ordered from God Himself.  No bugs, no wind, no heat, no cold air - absolute perfection.  Ausili's came out and we enjoyed a movie under the stars. 

 Here we are again, blankets and all.  Notice Mike's ladder in the back.  It held up the projector and the DVD player.  We aren't high class kind of people but we know how to have fun. 

 These boys!  Before my eyes they have turned into men!  I have watched all of them grow up & it is a joy to have them over!   

Happy 18th Anniversary to us.  We went out to dinner (thank you, mom) and we left the boys at home for our date night.  I know we've turned a corner when we can have a date night and leave the boys at home....alone!  Of course before we left we had to remind them that if they couldn't get along while we were gone then we'd have to hire a babysitter in the future and that would be entirely too embarrassing for Jay and that the boys would have to pay for the babysitter out of their allowance money.  Let's just say the mission was accomplished.  The boys did great together and we enjoyed a quiet dinner!

Goodbyes to Grandpa

 My Grandpa Jiggs passed away on April 18.  He was good husband, father and grandfather.  I believe my cousin, Adam, said it best when he said, "Grandpa was like an old Chevy truck, they don't make 'em like they use to."  Grandpa loved my grandmother his entire adult life and loved God his whole life.  I remember his advice he gave me when Mike lost his job.  He told me to trust in the Lord, his exact words were, "He will help lead the way, Amy!"  He will be missed by all.  My family commented that it was so nice to see everyone on April 21, the day of his funeral.  The picture above is of the boys.  Mike and Jay were pall bearers.  After the funeral we went back to Grandma's house for a bit.  Nick and Lauren enjoying a little R & R. 

My family is thankful for the love and kindness shown to us during this difficult time.  My grandparents church and pastor was wonderful.  My mom was so thankful to her sister in law, Kathy, who was a huge help to her.   When it's all said and done and this life on earth is behind you, one question that I ask myself is how well did I love?  It's not about what you have.  It's not about what you did for a living.  It's about how you loved and my grandpa loved well! 

Five months of change

As I read my devotion this morning I realized it's been five months since Mike lost his job.  It's been five months of change.  As a family, we have changed, our attitudes are different and we're softer with one other.  Our  financial status changed and thankfully the seasons have changed, but most importantly our hearts changed.  There were many dark and cold days which have turned into brighter days but with steep climbs ahead.  We did not buy the franchise.  God had other plans.  One Sunday in February Mike felt called to be baptized.  It was beautiful to see Mike Ausili baptize his friend, whom he had faithfully prayed for for years.  During that same service the pastor opened with a passage about Christ being our cornerstone.  In that moment, God placed it on my heart to name Mike's handyman/custom wood working/wood restoration company, "Cornerstone Custom Carpentry."  Truly, it was that clear.  I had waited for months for direction and I admit I was impatient.  In reality God was never silent but He did wait for His time and I've learned His timing is perfect.  After all, Mike felt called to be baptized on the Sunday when he would be making one of the biggest decisions of his life during the next week.  After that service I stayed quiet, not telling Mike about the revelation I had.  At the time Mike was getting ready to go spend a day with a franchise owner but I think we both knew in our hearts he would end up going out on his own.  Financially it was better for us to start our own business vs buying the franchise but as we've learned there is a lot more work involved in starting your own business from the ground up vs buying a "business in a box."  Mike returned from his day of working with the franchise owner and really enjoyed the work, enjoyed the owner and had nothing but positive things to say about the franchise.  But for us, it came down to what our hearts were calling us to do and together we made the decision that Mike would go out on his own.  I'll never forget the moment we made the decision.  It was Feb. 23, two days after Mike's baptism.  Mike looked at me and asked, "If I go out on my own, I have no clue what I even name myself and what kind of work will I do?"  I didn't hesitate in my response.  I told him his business would be named "Cornerstone Custom Carpentry," and his business would focus on handyman work, custom wood working/custom jobs and wood restoration repair (which is something we learned about from all the franchise research).  He loved it and so did I.  Soon afterwards Mike started to research business names in our county, to make sure the name hadn't been taken.  I asked him why he was wasting his time - God had named his business.  God wouldn't have given him a name someone else already had.  Just last week Mike got his business license so it's official.  He even has a tax ID number!  I often joke that we really have no clue what we're doing but we're learning as we go.  What I am certain of is God's had this all along and I have no doubt He will continue to  guide us on the difficult journey ahead.  Our prayer is that this business is glorifying to Him and that we remain faithful and patient to His plan for us.  I will tell you one thing, before this happened Mike had built walls around himself that only God could tear down.  Mike tells me he was on the Jesus "side of the fence" before this happened but that he was clinging on for dear life so that at any time he could jump over the fence and there was no way he was going to get off that fence and head into the "pasture" of godly goodness (ha).  But guess what, Mike's in the pasture.  God is good!

What we've been up to

 This picture has nothing to do with anything, I just thought it was cute of Nick.

 Jay and his friend, G. play on a church basketball league but on separate teams.  The other night they squared off together for the ball.  Jay's team won.  I'm sure it was the talk at the lunch table the following day.

 I had to include this picture not just because it's Jay and Curt but Jenny let Jay lay on her white couch.  I'm not sure what she was thinking or if she was.

 Mike and Mike installed Faith's new seats and carpet in her 1996 Jeep!  They worked from 5:30 in the evening until 2:30 a.m. - but it got done!

                                        These two are too sweet for words sometimes. 

                                                 There are no words for this picture.

Lauren won Young Authors for her age group at school.  I was (and am) so proud of her!  Her story was well thought out and clever! 

Spring has sprung.....kind of

Although it is officially spring in central IL, it's still freezing here!  Every night I complain that I'm over this cold and yet every night it gets colder and we still have our electric blankets on.  I know I need to finish Mike's story and I will.  There is a lot happening with Mike these days.  Let's just say one chapter of our life is over and we are starting a new one which is exciting and scary at the same time.  This is our down time of year but the boys are still relatively busy.  They are both playing on an off season basketball league and Jay also plays at church.  Nick has been devouring the book series, "I Survived."  He is required to take a test on the books every 10 days but he's finishing them in about 5 days.  I love his commitment to reading - who knew!!  Every night he crawls into bed and reads a good 45 minutes to an hour.  It makes my heart happy!  Nick has more of an all work and no play (which isn't necessarily healthy) attitude.  He likes to play but only after his work is done and the boy takes his school work seriously.  Fourth grade hasn't been as enjoyable for Nick as third grade but he made it through with improvements.  Jay is almost finished with middle school.  Be still my beating heart!  The other morning at breakfast I noticed little hairs on his chinny chin chin and I about had a heart attack!  How can my son have hair on his chin and be entering high school in the fall?  I'm proud of Jay though.  He's done great this year in school and although this past quarter he did not make the honor roll, he's made it twice this year which is a huge accomplishment.
I'll post pictures next blog and I promise to finish the "rest of the story."

Spring Break and Easter

 How can it be the end of March already?  As usual, time is flying by but life is good.  The boys just wrapped up their spring break.  Don't let the picture above deceive you.  Nick and his friend, Sid, went to our beach in our subdivision over the weekend and just made it look like they were some where warm and fun.  Ha.  The boys didn't do much.  They worked one afternoon for their nana.  Nick spent the night and saw a movie with nana one night.  Jay did a whole lot of nothing which is I guess was okay because the months leading up to March are always so busy for us. 

 Easter Sunday, the Ausili's came out and so did my mom.  It was such a nice Easter to celebrate our Lord and Savior! 

 How can these kids look this old?  Faith got a car just this week.  Crazy! 

 I took this picture a few weeks ago.  Jay was ready to go out on his kayak.  Personally, I think it's a wee bit early to be out on the water in kayaks but Jay and Nick totally disagree with me. 

And I just loved this for Easter.  The other day I heard some one talking about how Christ can take any situation or circumstance that seems horrible and turn it into good.  The cross was used as an example.  Before Jesus was crucified the cross was a sign of absolute evil and we all know how the cross is viewed now!  That really hit home with me.  Praise be to God! 

The boys

As I've read through my blog posts centering around Mike's job loss I realized I hadn't written much about the boys and their roles are pivotal in the story.  At the time when Mike lost his job Jay was almost 14 and Nick was 9.  As many moms can attest to, parenting a middle school boy has its challenges.  There are a few things you need to understand about Jay.  He's been my child that I've worried about the most.  Sure, he's pretty much been a dream in middle school (yes, it's true) but I have to work at my relationship with him.  He's always been a mans man and gravitated more towards Mike.  But every concern, worry and doubt I had about Jay was dissolved instantaneously  on the afternoon on Nov. 14.  That was the day Mike and I sat down with the boys to break the news to them.  During that hour long family conversation I was a witness to my boys' actions which demonstrated their love of Jesus.  They freely displayed this love to their dad at a time when Mike desperately needed their acceptance and understanding.  Their physical and verbal responses that afternoon was their way of showing Mike how much they loved Jesus and him.  Never once were the boys concerned about their "stuff."  Christmas was right around the corner and they didn't ask if Christmas would look different that year, it was the least of their concerns. 
Nick, being our humorous child, instantly developed a strong dislike towards the Mike's former employer.  This is a work in progress, as we are still working on this "issue" with Nick.  Ha!  Nick is fiercely loyal and you simply don't mess with his tribe.   But in terms of Nick's opinion of his dad's capabilities, well the sky is the limit.  As far as Jay goes, Mike's job loss softened him.  He's more at ease with other people.  Every wall that Mike had built around himself came down and Jay was at an age where he was old enough to see it and recognize it - we, as a family were finally all in when it came to Mike's heart.  In early January Jay came to me and said that he and Nick came up with a plan, they were going to save their own money and buy Mike a kayak.  Jay and Nick have their own kayaks and Mike has longingly wished he had one but due to our budget constraints, buying a kayak was out of the question. My mom and I were so touched by their thoughtfulness we told them we would help contribute to their venture.  So, here it is mid-March and all four of us are saving in the hopes of having enough money to buy Mike a kayak for Father's Day (so stay tuned).  Mike and I have prayed continually that the long term effects of this job loss will forever be a positive glow in Jay and Nick's lives.  It has taught us as a family that money isn't everything.  I'm reminded often of the main point that Mike said over and over on Nov. 14, stuff doesn't matter, it's people that matter.  Amen to that!