Here's a video I put together from Mikey and Danny's very first soccer game last Friday. Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Happy Birthday, Eliana!
Every good and perfect gift is from the Lord, and you certainly are a good gift. We love you and pray that you will continue to grow in your love for God and for others... and that you will experience the joy of being blessed by God, who loves you more than you can ever imagine.
Happy, happy birthday, sweet Eliana!
(guest appearances by Monster Toddler and his Trusty Sidekick)
Monday, August 15, 2011
Farewell... Until We Meet Again
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3)
Yet even in our grief, we trust that the very number of our baby's days was chosen by a loving and perfect God, whose character is not changed by our sad circumstance. He is good and infinitely wiser than us.
We are comforted in our mourning by many who love us and have grieved our loss with us. We are grateful for each and every one of you who have been and continue to be instruments of God's grace to us.
We were recently blessed with a gift of a poem, written by a dear friend from church as she grieved for us, and we would like to share that here, as well.
Take Comfort...
Yours was the vessel chosen to house the LORD'S littlest elect. (Mark 10:14)
Take Comfort...
Your precious babe is in the Presence, where He Himself will eternally protect. (Job 3:11-19)
So weep for now my love, yet not in despair... (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
Take Comfort...
Knowing that wee righteous soul lives forever, in the Lord's tender care. (2 Samuel 12:15-23)
Thursday, August 11, 2011
For the Aunties and Grammamas...
We were at an ice cream social at our church recently, and a friend took some really cute pics of the kids (and some really cute other kids, too!). Without further ado, in no special order...
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Pull up a chair...
It's been an interesting past couple of weeks. My grandparents are all going through some pretty big things, and they are regularly on my heart and in my prayers. But things are good in our home... kids are growing like weeds, and we're loving having such a loud and chaotic life. The house purchase seems to be moving in a positive direction, my pregnancy is progressing along into the not as miserable stage, and everything looks dandy... until the ghost of Capitol Ministries comes for a visit.
Ralph Drollinger, who used to avoid the media at all costs, evidently has had a change of heart; he contacted Capitol Weekly to initiate a news story aimed at smearing the reputations of his former employees and ministry colleagues. Seems that Ralph is looking for sympathy again. Thankfully, the article ended up being relatively balanced and most folks here in Sacramento seem to see through his lies nowadays.
Ralph Drollinger, who used to avoid the media at all costs, evidently has had a change of heart; he contacted Capitol Weekly to initiate a news story aimed at smearing the reputations of his former employees and ministry colleagues. Seems that Ralph is looking for sympathy again. Thankfully, the article ended up being relatively balanced and most folks here in Sacramento seem to see through his lies nowadays.
Ralph Drollinger's wild accusations are nothing new to the more than 20 people who have sadly, but voluntarily left his employment over the last few years after watching him spiral into a self-serving world of drama. At one point, he even claimed that he had the FBI investigating his charges that former employees were wire-tapping his phone calls. He makes assertions in his Bible studies that former employees are lawless hackers. He says that elders, board members, and pastors are complicit in covering up the illegal ordeal. He's also made accusations that former employees have stolen medical records and sermons that he wrote, with greedy intentions of copywriting them and charging royalties for their use!
For the record, no laws were broken or crimes committed by the former staff against Ralph. Ralph did not like the way it all played out, but that, thankfully, does not mean that they were wrong. He also seems to have forgotten the old adage, "Innocent until proven guilty." If he truly believes crimes were committed, wouldn't a jury and judge be a more appropriate place for that determination to be made than the secular media? Or would he rather continue spreading his slander than have a court tell him he's wrong?
If Ralph Drollinger was delusional, at least that would give him an excuse for his outlandish distortions, lies, and attacks. Sadly, these attacks are aimed at those who used to call him a friend and continue to fervently and regularly pray that he would repent and be reconciled to the God he claims to serve. Ralph has hurt these people in many ways, yet they continue to pray for him with compassion and concern.
At RalphDrollinger.com, he claims Capitol Commission stole its name from his previous use of the phrase during the years prior to its start. This is ludicrous, as those who were most closely involved in the ministry for all those years never heard him use that phrase, and he didn't bother to make this claim until the beginning of this year. Capitol Commission chose their name wisely and with good counsel, and made every effort to choose a name that would not be confused with Capitol Ministries. Capitol Commission has asked Ralph to use a Christian arbitrator to help settle this matter, but he refuses, denies that he has done so, and plays the victim card instead.
The fact remains that, in addition to the more than 20 employees that sadly had to walk away from their jobs due to Ralph's stubborn foolishness, all of his former board of directors, minus his father-in-law and himself, resigned their positions after failing to be able to sway him from his destructive path. More than 30 elders at his former home church also disassociated with him after being unable to support him in his current character, and being unable to convince him that he might be wrong.
Ralph continues to wag his finger at all of them, convinced that they were all in some crazy criminal conspiracy to remove him from his throne. He then hand-picked a group of men to replace his board of directors and "investigate" the charges that had been made against him. According to him, they found him innocent, but they never talked to anyone but Ralph about the issues that had caused the more than 50 people described above to question his integrity. "The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes to examine him." (Proverbs 18:17).
Sadly, Ralph continues to use the donations of well-meaning people who think he is doing the Lord's work to continue to advance his own delusions instead.
I spent Tuesday morning crying, after a weekend of continued jabs and attacks from Ralph and a day of flagging comments from Ralph and his henchmen of slander and attempts to drag elected officials and pastors into the fray. (They've currently taken over the comment stream, flagging and removing anything they don't like while still twisting and attacking it afterward, even projecting statements that were not originally there.) I cried because I was upset that he was continuing the drama and continuing to hurt people who have had to deal with so much. But then I also cried for him, because it is simply sad that he claims Christ but submits to nothing other than his own whims and delusions. He clearly does not know the joy of walking in repentance and serving a God who died and rose again for us, though he professes to do so.
But after I cried for those reasons, I wept. I wept out of sheer gratitude for the grace of God. The grace that has exposed our sin to us and led us to repentance and joy. The grace that has strengthened us and helped us to endure the fiery darts of the evil one. The grace that has exposed the truth of Ralph's lies, protecting hundreds of His sheep from Ralph's deception. The grace that assures me that God will continue to guard His sheep and will not allow the darkness to snuff out His light. The grace that reminds me that what Ralph has meant for harm, God has meant for good. The grace that has given us such deep love and appreciation for those who are in this battle with us.
I was so relieved to leave the year 2009 behind, but I have to admit that it changed me for the better. 2009 deepened my faith in new ways. 2009 gave me a huge warning as to how ugly it gets when a professing believer allows himself to spiral into uncontrolled and unrepentant sin. It caused me to examine my own heart much more closely and carefully, and to entrust the findings quickly to the cross. 2009 showed me a personification of the fool in Proverbs and the false teacher so poignantly warned against in the New Testament. But 2009 also made it clear to me that God is so much bigger than fools and false teachers, and that His purposes will not be thwarted.
2009 gave me an incredible understanding of the burden that our teachers and shepherds carry for us, and the vital importance of praying for them, that they would continue in righteousness and not be swayed away from God, but also that they would be overwhelmed by God's grace, and God's love, and God's richest blessings. Our shepherds are a precious gift from the Lord. I know this better because of 2009.
We could write a book about all the details of how Ralph continues to claw viciously for his throne. But this post is long enough already. I might have to write another post, some day, about the amazing contrast between the humility of John Piper and C.J. Mahaney this past year compared with Ralph's pride. How I read their stories and crave that Ralph would humble himself in the way these godly men have done in dealing with their sin and public ministries. What a delight it would be if he could glorify the God who sacrificed Himself in such a way!
In the meantime, I write this post with the hope and prayer that God might use it, in some way, to protect His sheep from deception and to proclaim His glory to the world.
For the record, no laws were broken or crimes committed by the former staff against Ralph. Ralph did not like the way it all played out, but that, thankfully, does not mean that they were wrong. He also seems to have forgotten the old adage, "Innocent until proven guilty." If he truly believes crimes were committed, wouldn't a jury and judge be a more appropriate place for that determination to be made than the secular media? Or would he rather continue spreading his slander than have a court tell him he's wrong?
If Ralph Drollinger was delusional, at least that would give him an excuse for his outlandish distortions, lies, and attacks. Sadly, these attacks are aimed at those who used to call him a friend and continue to fervently and regularly pray that he would repent and be reconciled to the God he claims to serve. Ralph has hurt these people in many ways, yet they continue to pray for him with compassion and concern.
At RalphDrollinger.com, he claims Capitol Commission stole its name from his previous use of the phrase during the years prior to its start. This is ludicrous, as those who were most closely involved in the ministry for all those years never heard him use that phrase, and he didn't bother to make this claim until the beginning of this year. Capitol Commission chose their name wisely and with good counsel, and made every effort to choose a name that would not be confused with Capitol Ministries. Capitol Commission has asked Ralph to use a Christian arbitrator to help settle this matter, but he refuses, denies that he has done so, and plays the victim card instead.
The fact remains that, in addition to the more than 20 employees that sadly had to walk away from their jobs due to Ralph's stubborn foolishness, all of his former board of directors, minus his father-in-law and himself, resigned their positions after failing to be able to sway him from his destructive path. More than 30 elders at his former home church also disassociated with him after being unable to support him in his current character, and being unable to convince him that he might be wrong.
Ralph continues to wag his finger at all of them, convinced that they were all in some crazy criminal conspiracy to remove him from his throne. He then hand-picked a group of men to replace his board of directors and "investigate" the charges that had been made against him. According to him, they found him innocent, but they never talked to anyone but Ralph about the issues that had caused the more than 50 people described above to question his integrity. "The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes to examine him." (Proverbs 18:17).
Sadly, Ralph continues to use the donations of well-meaning people who think he is doing the Lord's work to continue to advance his own delusions instead.
I spent Tuesday morning crying, after a weekend of continued jabs and attacks from Ralph and a day of flagging comments from Ralph and his henchmen of slander and attempts to drag elected officials and pastors into the fray. (They've currently taken over the comment stream, flagging and removing anything they don't like while still twisting and attacking it afterward, even projecting statements that were not originally there.) I cried because I was upset that he was continuing the drama and continuing to hurt people who have had to deal with so much. But then I also cried for him, because it is simply sad that he claims Christ but submits to nothing other than his own whims and delusions. He clearly does not know the joy of walking in repentance and serving a God who died and rose again for us, though he professes to do so.
But after I cried for those reasons, I wept. I wept out of sheer gratitude for the grace of God. The grace that has exposed our sin to us and led us to repentance and joy. The grace that has strengthened us and helped us to endure the fiery darts of the evil one. The grace that has exposed the truth of Ralph's lies, protecting hundreds of His sheep from Ralph's deception. The grace that assures me that God will continue to guard His sheep and will not allow the darkness to snuff out His light. The grace that reminds me that what Ralph has meant for harm, God has meant for good. The grace that has given us such deep love and appreciation for those who are in this battle with us.
I was so relieved to leave the year 2009 behind, but I have to admit that it changed me for the better. 2009 deepened my faith in new ways. 2009 gave me a huge warning as to how ugly it gets when a professing believer allows himself to spiral into uncontrolled and unrepentant sin. It caused me to examine my own heart much more closely and carefully, and to entrust the findings quickly to the cross. 2009 showed me a personification of the fool in Proverbs and the false teacher so poignantly warned against in the New Testament. But 2009 also made it clear to me that God is so much bigger than fools and false teachers, and that His purposes will not be thwarted.
2009 gave me an incredible understanding of the burden that our teachers and shepherds carry for us, and the vital importance of praying for them, that they would continue in righteousness and not be swayed away from God, but also that they would be overwhelmed by God's grace, and God's love, and God's richest blessings. Our shepherds are a precious gift from the Lord. I know this better because of 2009.
We could write a book about all the details of how Ralph continues to claw viciously for his throne. But this post is long enough already. I might have to write another post, some day, about the amazing contrast between the humility of John Piper and C.J. Mahaney this past year compared with Ralph's pride. How I read their stories and crave that Ralph would humble himself in the way these godly men have done in dealing with their sin and public ministries. What a delight it would be if he could glorify the God who sacrificed Himself in such a way!
In the meantime, I write this post with the hope and prayer that God might use it, in some way, to protect His sheep from deception and to proclaim His glory to the world.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Happy Birthday, 'Lijah!!
It's your birthday. The very first anniversary of the day you decided (kindly, in August) to exit the place you were formed a full eight days before you were "due."
It's been such a sweet year, getting to know you... You are a precious treasure to our family. We love how sweetly you love your big brothers and sisters, and how sweetly they love you.
We love how they affectionately call you "Cutie," saying you are too young yet to claim your name of "Cool." (This, we hear, is just around the corner, though. According to Elly, once you become a "taddler" and start walking, that name is yours!) We love Danny's song that he sings to you when you cry. ("Cutie, I wuv you. I even wuv Mommy and Daddy, too!") We love the husky affection in Sammy's voice as he pats your head and declares: "Baby!"
We love how carefully you watch people and how your eyes twinkle when you "escape" upstairs to find your siblings or out the front door to find your daddy. We love how you spontaneously erupt into clapping and cheering.... or dancing, when the beat strikes your fancy.
You are a gift from God to all of us, and we thank Him for you. We love you, and we pray that you'll have a precious birthday, and a wonderful year. And more than anything, we pray that you will know the depth of the love that God has for you and the joy of loving Him!
Happy, happy birthday, Cutie!!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Happy Birthday, Sammy!
Oh, ShammySham. We love you. I don't feel like I need to tell you this, as you so clearly know it, at the ripe old age of two. But then again, who wouldn't love a kid that looks like this??
At the ripe old age of two, you do a good job of letting us know how much you love us, too. Your spontaneous hugs and "I WU YOU"s at the top of your lungs... (At least you've figured out to turn your head at the last second when rushing in for the hug to avoid breaking your poor mama's nose!) Your snorts that erupt so easily when being snuggled and kissed. The way you, the monster toddler, become such a gentle giant in a split second whenever you notice Cutie crawling by, stopping what you are doing to pat his head and give him a kiss.
I love the way you play with your older brothers and sisters and I love the way you also do your own thing... you're just such a happy kid, going along with the flow. (Unless, of course, you are practicing those two-year-old tantrums. Ha! You just don't have the heart for them, Kiddo. Sorry!) I love the red-neck blood that is so apparent in your mannerisms, as you wear your hair long (sorry. That's my fault. But it's so CUTE!!) and ditch your shirt whenever you can in order to best show off your gut. That's class, Kiddo. I love it.
I hope you have a fabulous year, my love. I hope that you don't lose your love of life and joy of exploration. But most of all, I hope you know the love of the very One who made you so special.
Happy Birthday, Sammy! We love you!
At the ripe old age of two, you do a good job of letting us know how much you love us, too. Your spontaneous hugs and "I WU YOU"s at the top of your lungs... (At least you've figured out to turn your head at the last second when rushing in for the hug to avoid breaking your poor mama's nose!) Your snorts that erupt so easily when being snuggled and kissed. The way you, the monster toddler, become such a gentle giant in a split second whenever you notice Cutie crawling by, stopping what you are doing to pat his head and give him a kiss.
I love the way you play with your older brothers and sisters and I love the way you also do your own thing... you're just such a happy kid, going along with the flow. (Unless, of course, you are practicing those two-year-old tantrums. Ha! You just don't have the heart for them, Kiddo. Sorry!) I love the red-neck blood that is so apparent in your mannerisms, as you wear your hair long (sorry. That's my fault. But it's so CUTE!!) and ditch your shirt whenever you can in order to best show off your gut. That's class, Kiddo. I love it.
I hope you have a fabulous year, my love. I hope that you don't lose your love of life and joy of exploration. But most of all, I hope you know the love of the very One who made you so special.
Happy Birthday, Sammy! We love you!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Capitol Ministries: A Lot More Nonsense
Picture this: You're trying to remember how to find a family blog. There's this family that you know. Cute kids. Funny videos of clueless t-ball players. Where is it again? It has something to do with diapers... Kids in diapers... three in diapers? No, that's not it. Diapers for three. That's it. Doop duh doop duh doo... Probably diapersforthree.com. You try that.
Kind of reminds me of Little Red Riding Hood... Happily skipping along, carrying her cake in a basket, going to visit Grandma. Just instead of a path in the woods, it's the interwebs.
It was a bit surprising today to find that someone had been messing with our blog name. We've been diapers4three.com for a while. Today, we found that someone had purchased diapersforthree.com. The site contains this simple statement:
But as far as the real story goes, you can find that here.
Moral of the tale? If you're thinking about donating to Capitol Ministries, don't. Unless, of course, you don't mind your money going toward buying women's clothing for the big bad wolf.
Kind of reminds me of Little Red Riding Hood... Happily skipping along, carrying her cake in a basket, going to visit Grandma. Just instead of a path in the woods, it's the interwebs.
It was a bit surprising today to find that someone had been messing with our blog name. We've been diapers4three.com for a while. Today, we found that someone had purchased diapersforthree.com. The site contains this simple statement:
The Board of Directors of Capitol Ministries has investigated the accusations made in 2009 against our President and Founder, Ralph Drollinger, and found them to be unsubstantiated. We have known him personally for years, and continue to stand behind his biblically-based, biblically-qualified leadership of Capitol Ministries.This site is an obvious response to our 2009 post about Ralph Drollinger and Capitol Ministries. (A friend of ours made a similar post on her blog. Now there is a lovely rip-off of her blog as well.)
Whodunnit? A little research shows it's the same person who purchased capitolcommission.com in an effort to steal attention and potentially donations from the real Capitol Commission.
Whois shows the registrant is none other than Capitol Ministries and Ralph Drollinger:
Registrant:
Capitol Ministries
22831 Market St
Newhall, California 91321
United States
Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: DIAPERSFORTHREE.COM
Created on: 18-Feb-11
Expires on: 18-Feb-12
Last Updated on: 18-Feb-11
Administrative Contact:
Drollinger, Ralph converse91.josh@gmail.com
Capitol Ministries
22831 Market St
Newhall, California 91321
United States
(661) 288-2622 Fax --
Technical Contact:
Drollinger, Ralph converse91.josh@gmail.com
Capitol Ministries
22831 Market St
Newhall, California 91321
United States
(661) 288-2622 Fax --
Domain servers in listed order:
NS51.1AND1.COM
NS52.1AND1.COM
For the record, the board referred to in the statement above was not the same board that all but unanimously resigned due to Ralph's behavior in 2009. And knowing quite well the details of the situation, I can assure you that the extent of the current board's investigation was tantamount to saying, "Well, those are Grandma's clothes, so that must be Grandma!"
But as far as the real story goes, you can find that here.
Moral of the tale? If you're thinking about donating to Capitol Ministries, don't. Unless, of course, you don't mind your money going toward buying women's clothing for the big bad wolf.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Chicken Enchiladas!!
This is definitely not a food blog, but one of our all-time favorite meals in this house is my mama's famous chicken enchiladas. With a sour-cream base instead of the traditional red enchilada sauce, they are scrumptious and typically a bit different than expected, but quite popular amongst many. It's my favorite meal to bring to new mamas, and with that, I'm often asked for the recipe. I've been meaning for sometime to type the recipe up from the hand-written notes I took while watching over Mama's shoulder so I could share it. But of course, it's taken me a long time and now I can't even remember all the people who have asked for it! So, I'm hoping that blogging about it will serve the purpose of reaching those who want it! =)
1 big onion, finely chopped
1 rotisserie chicken (Mama says to avoid bbq or lemon pepper flavors; I often will get a Costco sized rotisserie chicken and double the batch with it)
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 4.5oz can chopped green chilis (I rarely have these in the house. Most likely, if I have made these for you, they lacked the green chilis. Sorry.)
1/2 teaspoon adobe seasoning
1/2 tablespoon southwest seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 oz shredded cheese (I used the mixed shredded from Costco. Mama uses mexican or colby jack mixes)
1 package corn tortillas (a single batch typically needs 15-20 corn tortillas)
Saute onion in a little bit of oil in a big pot. Add some garlic powder to taste (or I just typically throw in a small scoop of minced garlic from the big jar I keep in the fridge). Over medium heat, add green chilis and 1 tablespoon of flour. (And keep in mind that all these measurements are estimates from two people who rarely measure while cooking!). Add cream of chicken soup and half a can of chicken broth (you can swish the chicken broth in the the cream of chicken soup can to get the last bits out!). Wisk to stire. Add 1/2 - 3/4 cup sour cream (I typically "lose track" and add a bit extra. You can never have too much sour cream!). Wisk, wisk, wisk. Add adobe, southwest, and salt seasonings. Wisk a little more. Bring to boil and then reduce heat to low to medium.
Pull apart the chicken meat and remove skin and bones. Add meat and any juices to the mixture and heat until thoroughly warmed, then turn off.
Heat oil in a frying pan to soften corn tortillas, making sure the oil is hot enough to fizzle when you put the corn tortilla in. It just takes a second or two on each side. Soften tortillas individually and lay out on layered paper towels.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray 9x13 pan with oil. Fill the tortillas with filling, sprinkle with cheese, roll and line up in pan. After the pan is filled, moisten the tops with liquid from mixture and cover with shredded cheese. (Any leftover mixture is yummy over rice the next day!). Bake approximately 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and looking yummy!
Rice: I typically make rice with this meal. I make my rice in a pot on the stove, and I substitute chicken broth for the water when making rice to go with these enchiladas.
Green beans: I usually saute some green beans in BUTTER and a bit of garlic, then salt to go with this meal. Sorry if any of you thought this side was actually healthy! ;) My mama uses celery salt and pepper on her green beans. They are yummy, too.
Toppings: MORE sour cream and some guacamole go well as toppings on these yummy enchiladas. Or not. Depends on the mood. For my guacamole, I typically just smash up an avocado with a little bit of lemon juice, a couple tablespoons of mayo, a bit of garlic and a sprinkling of salt.
Now I'm hungry. =) Hope you enjoy!
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