Never Too Late...

Guess what?!?

I never showed you Christmas pictures...I was saving them...for January 17th...just for kicks.

You could believe that...or you could believe that I have nothing else to blog about.

You pick.

Here goes...

Christmas Eve with my dad...here's my little bro, me, my sister and dad

Jake on Christmas morning, totally rockin' the Rudolph jammies my mom got him at a garage sale...Ben, settling for a Rudolph nose, but wishing he had Jake's jammies.

Joy and...a bazillion Legos.

Next, is quite possibly the best gift ever. It's a reindeer...that poops jelly beans. Genius.

My parents gave me a Starbucks ornament. Perfection. Also, I do have to say, the pictures I took this year at Christmas' were less than stellar...next year will be better.

And we also ate...a lot...with reindeer antlers on.

And last but not least, is Christmas with Ben's side of the fam. He has 3 sisters and 3 brothers, and most have married and reproduced, obviously. My kids have aunts and uncles and cousins coming out their ears...and I love it that way! It's crazy fun.

And Happy New Year!...17 days into it.

Pin It

It Smarts a Little...Again

Kids...they crack me up...and teach me about myself. I've mentioned before that my own behavior sometimes resembles a 3 year old...apparently I'm maturing. Now it represents that of a 6-7 year old. I call that progress.

The other night when I was sick, I laid in bed listening to Ben put the boys to bed (which he always does, I'm just not usually paying such close attention :).


He was trying to settle something between our two oldest. One had promised the other he'd give him a dollar, and then tried backing out of it. Ben was patiently explaining to him that you do what you said you'd do, even if you change your mind, but the one would NOT give up the dollar. We're talking some serious wailing and gnashing of teeth over a simple dollar.


I hear Ben say, "Trust me, just give him the dollar and it will be fine." You see, the one having such a problem giving over the dollar, had also lost a tooth moments prior to this ordeal. I read Ben's mind...I knew that if the toothless boy would just simply hand over the dollar, Ben would make sure the tooth fairy compensated him for his obedience ;)

But that would be too easy. Our son would not give it up. Instead he tried making a deal with the other brother. He offered him toys, toys that cost WAY more than a dollar, all in hopes of not giving up that precious dollar that he thought meant so much to him.

In the end, the toothless boy handed over the dollar to his brother...and by handed, I mean throwing it at him followed by angry stomps and words under his breath.

Needless to say, the tooth fairy was not feeling too generous after that lovely display.

As I laid in bed in the other room, I thought to myself...give me a break, it's a dumb dollar kid! And then I heard my own words, whispered back to me...and I suddenly saw myself.



How many times do I hold onto silly, insignificant things worth less than a measly dollar. God asks me to hand them over, because I'm His, and I said I would. He has something so much better for me, yet I weep and wail as though they are the most important things, all the while God is patiently waiting for me to hand them over, knowing that He can't give me more until I let go of the little I have.

And when I do finally surrender them...it often, OFTEN looks like that of my toothless son. Throwing them down, stomping off, muttering under my breath how unfair it is, and what a terrible idea it is...not quite the obedience He's asking of me.

Funny how I don't see it that way, until the Holy Spirit whispers my own words back at me...through the actions of my kids.

Working on the surrender thing over here...still working... :)


On another note, but actually not completely unrelated, I have a little favor to ask of all the wonderful people that happen to take the time to read this insignificant little blog...a bloggy friend has set up a special (surprise) project for a family whose story is gut-wrenching...the idea is that you click here and then leave a word of encouragement for them. That's it. (You can also read more about their story as well.) A simple way to let them know they're not alone, that they're being lifted up in prayer...the comments will eventually be printed out for them into a book. Encouraging words, whether in times of pain or joy, either by friends or strangers...bring healing. It's such a simple thing to do...




Thank You!

Pin It

Too Random for a Title

Today I Am...

• realizing that I have not left the house since Sunday...except on Tues. when I took the kids to school...about 4 blocks away. I'll try to refrain from whining about the weather today, but seriously, it's -45 here...school is cancelled because pretty much everything is FROZEN. Waaaaah. There. Done.
• working on the Beth Moore Study, Living Beyond Yourself. It is kicking me in the tail...right where I need to be kicked. Good, good stuff.
• excited to tell you that the author, Mindy Starns Clark, of my favorite little book right now...The House That Cleans Itself, emailed me to say she'd be sending me THREE more copies of the book to GIVEAWAY to you wonderful people! YAY! (and even if you've bought it already, you can still totally enter to win it as a gift to pass along!) I'll do that giveaway as soon as the books are here. You can also check out her blog here...it has lots of great tips from the book...and MAYBE you could let her know I sent ya ;)
• wishing my sweet friend Heth a super-happy-frozen tundra-kids home from school-birthday today! When it thaws out a little, Starbucks is on me :)

Happy Thursday my friends....and if you live down south and it is warm there...go outside and enjoy it it...for me :)

Pin It

At It's Finest...

Yesterday after school, Eli, my sensitive little kindergartner smacked his brother in the face because he'd asked his big brother to stop talking to him and Noah did not comply.

I called them both downstairs to the kitchen, explained why this was wrong and sent Eli up to his bed to cool down/time out. After about 5 minutes I called up the stairs and told Eli he could come down (did I mention I'm totally cool, calm, and collected, thinking to myself...this is how good parenting looks...and may have even patted myself on the back.)

He's big into earning money right now, and I'm big into letting him know he's not going to get paid for everything he does. He comes down to inform me that while in time-out on his bed he went to the effort of making it...so I need to pay him. I let him know that while I think it's great he made his bed, I am not paying him for that (and proceed to explain all the reasons why, which I'm sure you can guess already.)

He responds with some over dramatic sobs and heads back up to bed. A few minutes later he comes back down to the table, pulls out his craft stuff, and hurriedly writes something on paper, which he proceeds to cut out.

I'm pretty sure he's making me a card...he's my boy that's always making sweet stuff for me. When he's done he quickly shoves it in my hand and runs upstairs.

This is what he handed me:

translation: worst mom ever

I read it and looked up to the top of the stairs where he was standing, he's sobbing because he already feels bad for giving it to me...because that's Eli. I put on my saddest face and let him know how much he'd hurt my feelings and back to his bed he went...sobbing.

Crack. Me. Up! I probably should have actually been a little hurt by the note, but instead I was GIDDY! He wrote that all on his own which makes me completely proud of him, even if it does say I'm the worst mom ever! ;) Plus, there have been many MANY moments that I have not handled parenting situations in the wisest manner, and if he'd given me the note when I'd deserved it, it may have crushed me. But this time...I'd actually done it right.

I let him sweat it out a few minutes before I went back upstairs to let him apologize and give my clever little guy a hug :)

This is the note I got next:

Translation: Sorry

*Side note: I knew right away I was gonna blog that note. I thought I'd put it up for safe keeping, until I went to look for it and Eli informed me he'd found it and crumpled it up and threw it away...I of course dug through the garbage to find it. *

Mommahood is fantastic. Remind me of that later...it's a snow day here A-G-A-I-N. :)

Pin It

There's a Connection...

Me, Amie, Jenni

Where to begin...

First, I am feeling much better. Phew. It never ceases to amaze me how a little bout of sickness suddenly puts life into perspective. There's something about feeling terrible and not being able to enjoy anything that makes me realize just how good I have it every. single. day.

OK, about my little retreat...I am so very bad at wrapping up moments with words. They seem to fall short of conveying my experience, but here goes...

I went with my friend Jenni and new friend Amie. Jenni and I are the kind of friends that can tell each other like it is, no sugar coating it...remember the movie Steel Magnolias? Jenni and I kinda remind me of Clairee & Ouiser...and I love that! (I tried to put a clip from that movie on here, but turns out, there's some naughty little words in there!)

Amie and I are new friends. We have mutual real life friends, but really only knew each other through blogging..which made her feel like an old friend. On December 19th 2007 Amie's beautiful son Andy was born...and he was perfect. 40 days later, Andy died of SIDS. She worked on his scrapbook this weekend. I'm not quite sure how she did it, but she did...and God showed me something about life through this beautiful mama.

Life is about hurting and grieving and laughing and silliness all wrapped up in a big jumbled mess. One moment we could be crying with her, and the next moment we're all laughing about something completely trivial. It's how we all survive. It's what we're meant to do. I used to misunderstand this, I think. I took the words of Solomon...a time to dance, a time to mourn, etc and looked at them as one at a time, when really, the laughing and crying are many times all mixed together.

The connection with these two girlies is supernatural. There's no other explanation for it. We share a Savior. We share the same hope. We know the same forgiveness. It really is beyond words. So thankful to have been able to spend the weekend with these wonderful girlies...can't wait till next year ;)

Jenni, me, Amie

Pin It

Fantabulous

I'm back, and I had a great time.  

Lots to share...only...I can't right now.

By the time I got home late yesterday afternoon I was not feeling too good.  I will spare you details, except to say....there was barfing involved.  I only share that with you...because lets face it...I'll use any excuse I can to say barf.

I'll fill you in tomorrow though... on the retreat.  I promise no more on barfing.  It'll be safe to come back ;)

Pin It

I'm Off...

This morning I'm leaving for a little getaway...till SUNDAY.  

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!

I'm a little excited to get away.  This will be my 3rd year of going to a scrapbooking/Great Beginnings retreat, just a couple of hours away from tiny town.  

It's fabulous.  Great food (which I don't have to cook or even think about,) two wonderful friends to chat endlessly with, times of prayer and reflection, AND scrapbooking.

What?!?  You didn't know I scrapbook?!?  Hmmm...I never talk about it?!?  Yeah...that's because I went on this retreat last January, scrapped my brains out, and then started this little blog in February.  Guess what I have not done since last January....scrapbook.  

But, I have unrealistic expectations high hopes of getting caught up.  Even better than that, is just taking a brief break from reality...with friends.  

Maybe you could all say a quick prayer for my hubby as he becomes a single dad/pastor trying to prepare two sermons for Sunday kinda guy...with 3 little boys to help ;)

PS - I'm fully aware anything I've cleaned or organized the past 2 weeks will be undone in my absence...it's the price I pay...and it's totally worth it.  Amen.

Pin It