Village Church in Dyer, IN!

This is our new church building! We are very excited to be moving into our new church home this January. We were hoping to be in the last Sunday in December, but there has been a 2-3 week delay due to a heating issue. It can be kind of disappointing to not be in when we wanted to be, but then I put it in perspective...this building didn't even have a foundation when we moved here just over one year ago. It really is amazing to see how God has blessed us in this building project - especially knowing how most building projects go! There is one couple in our church family who have gone above and beyond the call of duty and we owe them a great deal of gratitude. This particular couple have given so much of their time to this project as the husband has taken on the position of head contractor. He has also had his own company work on the church, sometimes working 18 hour days between the church and other jobs. They've really been amazing in all of this. So many other people in the church have given their time too and it's just been awesome to see. Jake and I walked through the church last Sunday and got to see a bunch of rooms that have been painted and speakers and lights in the sanctuary. What you can't see is our beautiful winding drive through the pine trees that leads back to the church. It is gorgeous, especially with the new fallen snow.

The best part, I think, are all of the ministries that are starting up and the people that are getting involved. To look at these people and have them realize that they are the church, not this building, that they are the ones to reach out to the community, not this building, is so neat to see. People keep asking our leadership how much we expect to grow in the next year. Well, I'm not opposed to growing in numbers at all, but I'm thinking of a different kind of growth. I think we are well on our way to a healthy church - so exciting considering they were going to shut the doors three years ago! I pray that God will bless this church - these people - and that we can use this building as a tool to do all things for Him.

One Down......Lots to Go!

"No more homework, no more books......"

I have finished this semester of college! It's a small feat, I realize, but for me it's a landmark because this is the first semester of school I've completed in six years. And I'm loving it! Last night I had my last exam in Spanish and I think it went very well. In fact, I think I'm actually pulling a 4.0 at Purdue, which is amazing considering all of the ups and downs I had this semester. With being so sick with this pregnancy early on and missing days due to time in the hospital, I was worried that I would go over my absence limits. I think I did in one class, but the professor was understanding enough to not mark me down. The class I am most excited to have over is my English class.....no more writing papers just to write papers! I am sure I will be writing papers the rest of the way through college, but hopefully the professor will give me a topic to write about rather than saying, "Write about anything you think is important - but follow this style of writing, make sure you're making it interesting for your audience too, and of course, it has to be ten pages long." I hate having guidelines that are so vague!

Anyway, I am looking forward to a couple of weeks off from schoolwork and then hopefully I can start up in January with some online classes I found at another college. I'm hoping to take a History class and a Sociology class and then have them transfer. Originally I was going to take the full semester off, but I just can't bring myself to not working toward my degree for that long of a time.

I have to admit, I got a weird feeling as I drove off campus last night and realized I had no reason to go there until next fall. It was a bit bittersweet, actually. That sounds so dorky, I'm sure, as most people are racing to leave school. But I think the learning bug has bit me again and I'm the student I was in high school where I find learning interesting - time consuming, yes, but worth every bit of effort you put into it. I think also that going back to school has been "my" thing. It has nothing to do with me being a mom or a wife, but it's about what I've longed to do and what I feel God is calling me to do eventually. That's been a great feeling, as selfish as it sounds. Well, if it is selfish, then I'm guilty of that - but I really do feel like I'm finally working on fulfilling what God has gifted me in (next to being a mother and wife of course) and there can be nothing more important than that!

Our Untraditional Christmas

Jake and I have all of our Christmas decorations up now, thanks to getting our Christmas trees last night. We had tried to get a real tree like we normally do, but weren't able to find a good Christmas tree farm.....there isn't really anything like Church's down here in IN. So, we ended up getting three pencil trees and creating our Christmas tree corner. We bought matching ornaments and are really pleased with how it turned out. It is a huge step for me having such a different arrangement - you would understand if you grew up in a family where your dad sang "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof as the family mantra! Cole has his own tree in his room where we hung all of his ornaments. He is really into his "choo choo" ornaments and likes to point and talk to them. I've included some pics of our new home decorated for Christmas, to suit the request of family members who haven't been able to visit yet. First is our dining room with the front door and kitchen to the right. Amazingly enough, I haven't killed my poinsettia yet! Below that is the outside of our front door...in all of these pictures you lose the whole effect since it's daytime, but you can get the drift of what it all looks like! Then is our loft which is above the dining room....the stockings are hung and filled (Cole's is at least!). Next is my nativity scene that I just adore. I have friends down here who are jealous that I have the whole set.... thanks to Aunt Beth for starting us out with the main cast of characters and to Mom for finishing our set! To top it all off are our new trees. We like how simple they are and they cast such a warm glow in the evening, which again you're missing since I took the pictures in the daylight! So, that's our home....a thrilling post, I know. But I guess it gives you an idea of where we are every day!

Life at the Bottom

So for those of you who don't know, Jake and I moved to a new town and a new house about a month and a half ago. I absolutely love our house. It's a two story, 3 bed, two bath with a huge living room, finished basement and beautiful kitchen. The house is on a lake, so we have a great view from the living room and our bedroom. It is brand-new...as in, we are the first people to live in it!

I am learning, though, the downfall to this house - at least in the winter. We live at the bottom of a hill where the street dead-ends right in front of our house. Well, in the last three days, we have had three cars who have gotten stuck as they lost control over the hill and put their tires over our small curb and into our "front yard" (it's not a typical front yard, hence the quotations). Last night - well, actually this morning at about 4 a.m. - I awakened to our house shaking. Literally, our whole house shook. I said to Jake, "Someone hit our house." He of course bolted out of bed to find car #3 who hit the pine tree right in front of our house. By the time Jake went out to help, the person was running off for home. We got a visit from the police this morning and they filed a report and made sure to call the township so we could get some dirt and salt on our hill. The policeman said for sure to get in contact with the town if it happens again. At this point, thankfully, we are only out a mailbox and have some cracked siding from it flying at our house, and hopefully with a report filed, this will get taken care of. All it took was a few people crashing into our yard a few times....no biggie, right? Sometimes it's absolutely ridiculous what it takes to get things done the way they should be. Ahhh.....even as I type, I hear a salt truck. Hopefully no more 4 a.m. awakenings....at least not until the twins come!

A Toddler's Prayer

I sat down to dinner with Cole tonight and asked if he'd pray with me before we started eating. He put his hand in mine and waited as I spoke, but then interrupted me with "A-meh"...."yay!!!". As if that wasn't sweet enough, we began eating and then Cole put his head down. He then said, "T-ay, Mama, Da, go-go-ride, a-meh.....yay!!!" Seriously, if I could capture time in a bottle, this is one memory I would keep. How incredibly sweet to watch my 20 month-old "pray"! (And honestly, I'm thankful he mentioned Jake and me!)

Black Friday Adventures

Yes, I did it. I ventured out with my sister at 3:45 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving to see what deals we could take advantage of. We began our trek at Meijer where we waited in line for....well, can't say it 'cuz it's someone's gift! But thankfully, we got the fifth to last of this item. While in line, we laughed at a lady who was with her mom.....her mom only there to make sure she got a "really cool" brush and comb set. It was pretty hilarious to hear the two of them interact - or should I say banter?

We then went to Toys R Us so I could get Cole the Home Depot 2-in-1 Tool Bench and Sawhorse (yes, I wrote it out....not quite as worried about him reading this!). I know they have a giraffe as their mascot, and it seemed appropriate on this morning as that place truly was a ZOO! We ran back to the right section only to find that the workbenches were all out.....I was devastated and realized why parents trample each other to find that perfect toy for their child. I'm not saying I would advocate this, but I was ready to do whatever it took to get this toolbench! We went down a couple more aisles and then came back so I could longingly stare at the empty shelf where my dream Christmas gift once lay. Then, Heather said, "2-in-1 workbench?" I couldn't believe it! A woman had found one of the last workbenches and had a clerk get it down for her. That drew our eyes to the last workbench up on the very tip-top shelf. I told Heather, "I'm not leaving this spot" and she quickly ran for a clerk. By the time the clerk got to me, the woman who obviously didn't realize how lucky she was, decided she didn't want her workbench and set it down. So we were able to scoop that one up for ourselves!

Now, the real entertainment came from the line for the check-out that circled the store 1 1/2 times......people finding where the end of the line was was pretty comical. And at one point, a fight almost broke out when we heard, "Don't you talk to her like that!" I turned to Heather and said, "Merry Christmas!" We laughed, as did most of the onlookers in the line. As we were driving home and contemplating whether or not we should wake our husbands, I said, "This is so fun!" I'm not sure how "fun" it would have been if my sister hadn't been there with me.....and I'd be lying if I said I'd have enjoyed it just the same had I not gotten Cole's present. But we'll see......maybe next year it's round 2 for the Ainslie girls and Black Friday!

New Pictures

For all of you who have been waiting for new pictures of Cole and the rest of us, check out the new link in our Photo Album section entitled, "Fall Happenings". Sorry I haven't been that great at keeping up with the photos like I had hoped to. I've been kind of lazy in this first trimester! Speaking of the twins, just an update that we had an ultrasound last week and saw that they are growing right on schedule and also that they are fraternal....whew! No tattoos for our babies, thank goodness! =) I'll keep you posted on how they're doing.....shouldn't be too hard since I go to the doctor every other week! Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts!

Thanksgiving Fun

The Manne family had a great week of Thanksgiving. Yes, I realize it's only 1 day, but we really had a holiday week. We began on Tuesday when Jake's parents and aunt, uncle and cousins from Alabama stopped at our house to stay the night as a pass-through on their travels. We had a fun time staying up until 1:30 a.m. laughing and "solving" the world's problems. It was so nice to see our Alabama family since we don't often get to visit with them. Jake's parents continued on to Alabama to spend the holiday with Jake's sister, her husband and son. Thankfully they made it there quickly and safely!

On Wednesday, we left for our own Thanksgiving travel to Michigan to spend time with my family. We arrived at about 10 p.m. EST and once again didn't go to bed until 12:30....Cole was jazzed about being at Grandpa and Grandma's, and we were just as grateful to have arrived at our destination and be out of the car! We spent Turkey Day with my parents, my sister, brother-in-law and nephew, my cousins, aunt & uncle and my grandma. It really was a fun, relaxing day. Cole spent the majority of the day either attached to my dad or following A.J., my nephew. Cole is obsessed with both of them! He quickly chooses Grandpa over Jake or me, and especially chooses Grandpa over anyone else! Then there's A.J......the cutest little baby I know! Cole loves A.J. and says his name really clearly. He crawls around with A.J., shares his toys with him, gives him "loves" and tries to teach him new tricks. It is so fun to watch these boys grow up together! Here are a couple of pictures from our trip. Hope your Thanksgiving was a blessed one!

Grandpa & Cole having a blastSweet baby A. J.
Cole & Great-Grandma Janet in deep conversationCole kept taking apart the Christmas trees!

A Great Weekend

Jake and I just returned......literally, just got out of the car and are in his office at church until it's time for me to go to class......from a wonderful weekend of training and learning in St. Louis. We went to the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers' Convention for the last five days and soaked in so much new information. It was a time of learning lots of practical tips for ministry but also a time where God really worked in our hearts and refreshed our love for Him.

One helpful session in particular was a Q & A with Doug and Cathy Fields. If you don't know who that is, he's one of the most nationally known youth pastors these days. But for our session, we didn't talk so much about youth ministry, but instead about marriage and all of the stresses that are put on it when in full-time ministry. It was so nice to hear from "veterans" who figured out a good balance. It was also nice just to be getting advice from two people who understand what it means to be in full-time ministry. I have learned in just this last year of being in it ourselves that people really don't get it....they think they do.....but they don't. I've learned to just smile, nod and allow those folks to make their comparisons, but to walk away and not take too much of it to heart. I don't mean this to sound harsh.....I know that there are many people who have 9-5 jobs that work very hard, work overtime and have many stresses put on them and their families because of their job. I just don't know how to explain it, but ministry is so different.....those of you in ministry can understand and possibly shed more light on this if you have a way of describing it! Cathy said in another session I was in (titled, Help! I Married a Youth Worker!) that the room of women she was standing before knew her life better than her best friends did in the sense that we're living it.....we are now living what she's been living the last 25 years and will continue to live for many more. That made me feel good too, being in that room with all of those wives.

Anyway, I'm just very thankful for such a refreshing weekend. Cole was with my parents so I never worried about him....and let me tell you.....it was nice to not have any responsibility for 5 days! I miss him dearly, but you mothers know how nice a break feels! And now I am off to class......vacation is over.......back to the grind we call life!

An Addendum to the Latest.....

I just read tonight that there is less than a 2% chance for someone to get pregnant with twins naturally. Putting that in perspective, there is practically a 99% chance that you will not get pregnant with twins unless you have been on fertility treatments. These statistics just made this pregnancy all the more special to me and I thought I just might share them with you! God definitely knows what He's doing, doesn't He?

The Latest...

Jake and I have an announcement to make......we are expecting again! We are very excited about the news....doubly excited actually, as we found out yesterday that we are expecting twins! Can you believe it? We are still in shock, I have to say. So many questions are roaming through my head......what's different with the pregnancy? how do I handle two babies and a toddler? what are all the secrets I need to know?!?!!?

We hope this news finds all of you well.....if you think of it, please pray for us as we prepare ourselves for our new family of 5. Please pray for health for me and the babies as well, as I have been extremely sick lately and I'm trying to just keep something down in order for these little guys/gals to get their nutrition! Thank you in advance for any thoughts you could send God's way in our regard!