I have learned two valuable lessons this week that I wanted to pass along to you.
Sometimes when Rori leaves her toys out and I get frustrated, I threaten that I am going to throw them out if she doesn't put them away. That usually gets her moving. No, this is not the lesson I'm passing along. Basically, I think she has learned that when something annoyes me, throw it out. A few weeks ago, I bought her a new nightgown. You've probably seen it in some of the recent pictures, as she pretty much lived in it for days (don't judge me). It was a pretty aqua flannel with Ariel on it. Last week, I noticed that I hadn't seen it for a day or so. I figured it would turn up when we did laundry. It didn't. I kept looking for it. Yesterday I asked her for the millionth time if she remembered where she put it. Finally she looked at me and said she put it in the garbage. I asked her why and she said because she couldn't get it on. Apparently she got annoyed with it and threw it out. I really think that I was sadder about it than she was (I don't think she really understood it was now gone forever).

So, lesson 1, when teaching your kids about garbage, tell them not to throw out perfectly good clothes that their mama just bought them.

Yesterday, I was proudly telling my friend on the phone that my kids were playing in the bathroom but I didn't need to supervise them because we told them you should only put toilet paper in the toilet. Not five minutes after telling her this, I heard the toilet flush and start to overflow. I ran in there and turned off the water as the bathroom was filling with water. I yelled calmly asked, "What did you do?" Rori said that they wet toilet paper and threw it in. I asked how much and she replied, "lots and lots." Great.

Lesson 2, when teaching your children that only toilet paper goes in the toilet, specify how much is reasonable. Then don't brag to your friends about what you've taught them.

We're not the worst!

I had to work today and Bill had the day off so that he could watch the kids. They came up to my work to meet me for lunch and we decided to have Burger King (that's right, we know how to treat ourselves). I have known since early in our relationship that one of Bill's biggest pet peeves is when kids don't behave in restaurants. We don't take our kids our to eat very often, and when we do, it is usually fast food. Rori would do fine in a place like Chili's, but Liam is just too little to sit still that long. Today the kids were extra excited because I think they missed their mommy :) After they were done eating, Liam wanted to get out of his high chair. I picked him up and put him in the booth next to Rori and me. Then they both wanted to get out so I let them. I told them to just stay by the table. They were being pretty good, but I could tell Bill was annoyed that they weren't sitting down. This may be where Bill and I differ in our parenting. Liam is only 1.5 years old. Frankly, I'd rather let him stand by our table and march and laugh than sit in his high chair wailing. I wouldn't do this in a nicer restaurant, but it was Burger King and there were like 4 other people in the place. Rori is able to sit the whole time, but she's 3.5 years old. I think there's a big difference. I'm probably wrong, and I know I'm a big softie, but really, they weren't being loud and they were staying right by us, just standing up. Anyway, I could tell Bill was getting annoyed, so we left. As we were leaving I saw a little boy--at least 3 years old that had pulled a chair up to the ketchup dispenser and was standing on it. He was pumping out ketchup into one of those disposable cup things and licking it out and refilling it--with his dad standing right there, gross. I felt a little vindicated as we were certainly not the worst parents at Burger King today. And, I think I am going to have to ask for ketchup packets from now on :)

Out of the mouths of babes

Last night I was reading The Children's Storybook Bible to Rori before bedtime. We were talking about Adam and Eve and how sin entered the world. I explained to Rori that we will all die someday, but Jesus died for us so that we can go live in Heaven with Him. I am having a horrible time explaining this to a three year old, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Anyway, of course she started to cry at the idea of living in Heaven. She told me she didn't want to die and when Jesus took her to Heaven, when would we get to go home? The best I could think of to say was that Jesus would bring our house to Heaven with us--because I knew that she wouldn't able to understand that Heaven is so much better than our house. Then my precious little girl asked, "Will He bring our TV too?" At least she knows the necessities in life, right?

It's Christmas!

I feel like I have been waiting for Christmas for so long and it's finally here. Yesterday, Christmas Eve, we got a bunch of snow...again. So, Bill's brother, Christopher, showed up with his parents snowblower so that we wouldn't have to spend time shoveling. Bill was super grateful--I wondered where that help was last Friday... (just kidding--I did get a nice back rub after my shoveling). Then we went to Bill's family for Christmas Eve. We had a nice dinner and opened presents. The kids got way too much stuff! I got a dutch oven that I've been wanting and am super excited to use.

I have been so excited for Christmas Day because I had been hinting that I would like a new computer/laptop because everytime I'm on our PC, I have to reboot 5-6 times because it crashes on me. And yay!!! I got one!!! I love it. It's so fast and sleek and wonderful. Thank you my handsome prince!

I also had been excited because I had bought Bill a Wii before Thanksgiving that I have been trying to keep a secret. I've been dying to give it to him, because while he is really good at giving presents, I am usually more practical. This is the first time I have bought a truly frivolous present. He was so excited! I'm so glad, because he is always so generous with me and I wanted to do the same.

We had a very nice Christmas with my family today. My dad bought us a fabulous prime rib that Ryan, my sister's husband, cooked to perfection. My parents got me a piano keyboard since our piano has been determined to be untuneable. So I'm excited to break it out and dust off my piano books. My sister got an electric guitar and treated us to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on her electric guitar. It was rocking :) We're so cool...

Anyway, I hope you all had a great Christmas, and remembered the real Gift we received on Christmas!

Christmas is almost here!

Please excuse my humble attempt at a deep post. But I want to reflect a little bit on what Jesus did for us. For some reason, this year it really hit me--the part about Him coming to earth as a baby and not just appearing as an adult. I don't know if it's because my world revolves around babies, or I'm just slow. Anyway, how humbling must it have been for our Lord to choose to come as a baby. Babies are dependent upon others for everything. The Lord and King of the universe chose to become dependent upon His mother, Mary. He knew what it was like to wear diapers, be hungry, not be able to communicate what you want, to need His face and hands wiped after eating or playing. How wonderful and amazing is that? I know that if I was all powerful, I would not be willing to humble myself to rely on my creations to fulfill my earthly needs. My Lord continually shows Himself to be so much more than I imagine.

I also want to put out a challenge to anyone who might be interested. As you know, I follow Angie Smith's blog, and she challenged her readers to memorize Psalm 139. I haven't memorized that much scripture since my days in AWANA, and never a whole chapter. I thought it would be really cool to be able to recite that whole chapter, since that is one that I think is very familiar to believers everywhere. Of course it is one that has been of great comfort to me when Faith went to be with Jesus. How wonderful would it be to have it truly hidden away in my heart. I have linked to Angie's schedule, which obviously several of the dates have passed, but basically you memorize two verses per day and then every third day spend in review or catching up. I have made it through verse 6 and can't wait until I have it all memorized. If you decide to join me, please let me know so we can encourage one another!

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Please (and this is also for myself) don't get swept up in the presents and everything, remember what this Season is really about. A Savior who chose to humble Himself to become one of us so that we could live forever with Him.

Rori Comaneci

I'd give her a perfect "10"

What's wrong with this picture?

Today we got ridiculous quantities of snow. Bill and Rori decided to go out and play in it since it was the nice heavy packing kind. I got to stay inside with this:



He was so upset that even his hair was angry. To be fair to me, I did ask him if he wanted to go outside and he shook his head no. So really, I don't know what his problem was but I think Bill got the good end of that deal.

After about an hour, I called Rori and Bill in because it was pretty cold out and I didn't want her to get sick. The plan had been that Bill would then stay out and shovel. However, when he brough her in, he complained about his knees and ankles killing him. To be fair to him, he does have arthritis, so it was probably a valid claim.

So in my good wifelyness, I went out and shoveled. For an hour! Like I said, it was the nice heavy packing kind. We have a very long driveway.I pointed out to Bill that three different people had stopped by and asked if we wanted to pay them to shovel the driveway and he said no. I strongly sweetly reminded him that we could have done that instead of having me shovel. He, unwisely, said, "I thought you would want the exercise." I imagine he regretted the words as they were coming out, and I'm pretty sure that I am going to get a nice foot and back rub tonight, without any kind of reciprocation :)

How do you know?

How do you know when you're done having children? This isn't a rhetorical question--feel free to answer if you have any advice. Bill and I have no idea if we are going to "try" to have more babies. I say "try" because of course it is ultimately up to God. It may or may not be in His plan. However, I'm not counting on an "accidental" pregnancy. That would be ridiculously unlikely for us. My babies are just growing up so fast, that I miss having a baby in the house. I'm starting to have my rose colored glasses on again, remembering the newborn stage. I, however, have not forgotten how miserable I am the entire pregnancy; and how I'm pretty sure that my skin really couldn't take another good stretching. Frankly, delivery doesn't deter me, but the 9 months prior are a nightmare.

I feel like there are a million things to take into consideration, but I wonder if they are stupid. Like, I think we don't have room for more kids, I don't want to take away from the opportunities that Rori and Liam can have, Bill and I have career decisions we'd need to make, if we do have more babies, should we space them out from these two or have them all in a lump, do I have the energy, etc. While there are lots of questions like that, which kind of lead me to wonder if we should be done, I just feel like I want more, leading me back to my questions of "how do you know?"

At least, in a few months, I'll have a new baby niece to squelch my baby cravings.

'Tis the season

I'm sorry that my posts are probably going to be slowing down a bit for the holiday season. I am really trying to focus on my family right now. We have a lot going on, and I really want to make sure to teach my children, especially Rori--who's old enough--what the reason for the season is. I want to make memories and traditions for her now, I don't want to wait. I'm not jipping Liam--he's just not old enough yet ;)

Anyway, I'm starting to get overwhelmed with all that has been going on, and frankly the past week has been stressful with present buying, cookie making, and planning for Christmas. I think the kids can feel it too. Friday was especially bad. Liam was ridiculously cranky and Rori was whiny. I knew it was a bad sign when I asked her if she was going to be whiny all day and she said, "no, just for the morning time." At least she was honest. Liam cried off and on all day and by the time Bill got home we determined he had an ear infection. We called the doctor for a prescription and then had to rush to get ready for my company Christmas party. I felt bad leaving Liam but he went to bed at 5 and didn't get up til 6 the next day--so he didn't even miss us.

Saturday Rori and I made cutout cookies. I was worried that I'd be too crabby from the day before, but we had a great time. She went through about half of my sprinkles putting them on the cookies, but they look great. I thanked her for being such my good helper and she said, "thank you for being my momma." I melted on the spot.

She's a baker in training!

Liam wanted to get in on the action! It's scary, but everytime he sees you at the counter he has figured out to drag his chair over and stand on it and "help" you. I'd be more comfortable if he wasn't accident prone!

Aren't they gorgeous :) They're quite tasty too!

I really want to focus on doing things like this with my kids, especially during this season. I want them to find it magical. I love seeing the Christmas lights through their eyes, when they get so excited as we're driving around at night. I want to be patient while we do things like make cookies, and not worry about the mess. But most of all, I want to focus on telling them about Jesus, and how He came as a baby so that He could save us all.


Anyway, please don't stop checking my blog :) I will do my best to post more frequently, even if it's just short popping in here and there, until the New Year. I'm trying to save my sanity :)



PS We found out today that my sister is going to have a baby girl! I am so excited that she is going to get to find out about the fun of raising a boy and a girl! I am going to have to buy my neice her first disney princess!

Weekend Getaway

I apologize that I have been MIA since last week. But today you get a two-for-one :) This weekend, Bill and I went for a much needed getaway. My aunt and uncle let us use their room at a lodge up north. It was wonderful! We dropped the kids off at my parents for their first overnight away from us. I was a little sad and guilty, but it was just one night, so I knew they'd survive.

The lodge was huge. We spent a long time just walking around. The room had a beautiful view. It totally felt like a secluded getaway. While the point was partly to be just the two of us for the weekend, we of course ended up doing some Christmas shopping for our munchkins. We went to The Wal-Mart. It was a kind of town where you don't call it Wal-Mart, but The Wal-Mart. Then we went to Chili's for dinner because we are so adventerous and love to try new things--oh wait, that's not us. Anyway, I did step out of my Chili's box and had Big Mouth Bites (Lesley--after seeing you have them, I can now understand why--they are little/big bites of heaven). :)

Anyway, before this post gets too boring, the best part of the weekend was sleeping in and completely through the night together! But, there was nothing better than going to pick up our kids and getting big hugs and kisses. I love them so much!

Check out that view!

The room even had an upstairs! How cool is that?!

Happy Anniversary

So yesterday was kind of a big day. It was Bill and my 7.5 year anniversary! Just kidding, that wasn't the big deal (but it's true). It was my parents 36th wedding anniversary!! How incredible is that, in this day and age?! What's even crazier is that my mom was barely 19 years old when she got married. When 19 year olds get married now, it's pretty much guaranteed failure. My parents have one of those marriages that, should they get divorced, it would pretty much kill my faith in marriage. They are meant for each other. They are still so in love after all these years. I hope that Bill and I will still be like that in 28.5 years :) Congratulations Mom and Dad!

Thankfulness

I know that I'm a little over a week late talking about thankfulness, but I have been writing this post in my head for a while and just didn't have the time to devote to it that I really wanted. I am obviously thankful for all the wonderful people and blessings that the Lord has given to me, but I know that the Lord calls us to be thankful in all things. I have been trying to figure out how I can be thankful for the Lord bringing our baby girl home before we could raise her. The Bible verse that I clung too, in an odd way, was James 1:2 "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials." My personal translation to that verse was, "Consider it all joy, when crap happens..." I clung to it, because it meant to me that God was going to work good through our loss. Somehow. He promises that "...in all things God works for the good of those who love him, and have been called according to his purposes." Romans 8:28. I have been searching for almost 5 years for reasons that I can be thankful, have joy, or see God's good work. Recently, I won a book (you may have seen an earlier post) by Lynnette Kraft. She has buried 3 children and has an incredible strength and love for the Lord. A passage in her book really hit me. It is definitely how I feel. I hope it's ok to quote it (I don't know what the etiquette is, so I apologize if I shouldn't do this).

She said, "My heart will never be the same. You've imprinted a love for Anna Gabrielle there and that lonely spot won't be satisfied until the day I hold her again. That's okay though, because as a result of that lonely spot, I've gained compassion for others and a strong desire to be in your holy presence here on earth and especially in heaven....I praise you for taking three of my children to be with you because a part of me has gone with them. I find myself holding much more loosely to this earthly place and the things in it. I can truly say I'm thankful for my sorrow because I've gained so much."

I feel very similar to Lynette. I don't know that I can yet say that I am 100% thankful for my sorrow, but I can say that losing Faith has made me want to serve the Lord more. I cling to the hope that I will see her again. I want my whole family to see her again and praise the same Lord that she has been praising for almost 5 years now. And what that means to me is that I need to raise my children to love Him. I don't care if they are the smartest or the prettiest or the fastest or the wealthiest. I care that they love the Lord with their heart and soul and mind. So that when we leave this world, we will all still be together. When I get to Heaven, I can't wait to say to my King, "Where is she Lord?" I will see her healed perfectly by the Great Physician. So truly, I can count it joy, because of my trials, I have an even stronger burning desire for my family to know and love Jesus. And I look forward to the day that we will be together praising Him for forgiving us and saving us and allowing us to live forever together in His presence.

First Snow

We had our first big snow a couple of days ago, and Rori asked yesterday if we could go out and play in it. I got her all bundled up in her snowpants, boots, coat, hat and mittens--all whilst Liam was wailing for who knows what reason. Unfortunately we don't have snow pants for him, so I put his boots on with his regular pants. He got pretty angry about the boots. I think my kids have a bit of OCD (which they get from their auntie Jenna) where something out of the ordinary annoyes them. Then I wrestled him into his coat and fought him to put on a hat. He does not like hats...Sadly for him, I couldn't find his hat (it was in the car) so he got to wear Rori's old fleece purple polka dot hat :) He wailed the whole time until we stepped outside. He loved the snow. He and Rori ran around in it with Rori periodically laying in it. They had the best time...for about five minutes. Then, I'm guessing, based on the return of the wailing, Liam got snow in his boots since he didn't have snowpants on and it was cold. I carried him in to change his pants and Rori wanted to stay out...until she got snow down her coat and she started to wail. So we took off our snowy clothes and put dry ones on and snuggled on the bed until Papa came home. I'm so bummed that I didn't get a picture of Liam in his sister's hat! Maybe I'll put it on him again sometime when his Papa's not around and snap a picture--because he was just so cute! Anyway, the whole thing felt like something out of "A Christmas Story" when they get the kids all bundled up and then one has to go to the bathroom. Good times...

On a side note, I am starting to find music on blogs kind of annoying. What do you think? I'm contemplating taking mine off. Be honest--I'm not sensitive :)