Monday Humor

I just had to laugh...or cry...thankfully I choose to laugh.
It was 4:58 pm.
I was trying to get the house back in order for Justin to come home to some semblance of sanity in our home.
Normally the kids help clean up.
I came around the corner after starting dinner to this.
Every book from Owen's bookcase, on blankets, on the floor, for a 'school reading project'.
??What is up with taking ALL 50 books off the bookcase??
Katie was being creative.
Owen was helping, hence the stuck train in the middle.
I was...well..I had to stop and laugh and enjoy life with our kiddos right now. Nothing stays the same these days.

Being like Momma

I was trying to have my quiet time during the kids rest time on Sunday. I was on our comfortable couch, with a warm and fuzzy blanket, with my Bible and 'read through the Scriptures in a year' paper. Ahhh, I was going to relax and read.
It didn't last long. At least by myself-didn't last long. Katie managed to come out of her room, with her Bible, sit on the couch and say, "I want to read my Bible like you, Momma!" Oh, I didn't want to discourage that! (but it was sorta of a disobedience....hum....) But deep in my heart, I loved the idea of snuggling on the couch reading.

And as you can tell, there wasn't much quiet time after that. She wanted to have a full theological conversation about her Princess Bible and about what I was reading as well. Got to love you, little girl; stay in the Word!

3.5

Katie at 3.5 years old you are wonderful.

A few things that speak to this stage of your life:

You love the color pink and purple.
You talk from the moment you wake up until you fall asleep--There is never a quiet moment with you, our gifted communicator.
You have an imagination that is So very creative and constantly expressive with your words and facial expressions. And with all your animals and dolls, Tinkerbell is the only one that always disobeys-Interesting. Everybody else learns and obeys.
You are a great eater and fuss very little at meal times. I think we could say, you enjoy good food!
A few foods you enjoy-Hummus, pretzels, almond milk, cookies, dark chocolate, peas, chicken fingers, sweet potatoes, graham bunnies, fruit-though you think you don't like pineapple-I know you do, bread/honey/butter, water, tea, muffins
You are learning social cues. You now have a fake laugh and can mimic us with big tears and huge smiles.
You've been disciplined your fair share. There is a stubborn streak in you that can end in you throwing a fit. You're working on instead using words and not getting angry.
You love your daddy and dates with him. Dates with Mommy are also special.
You are becoming aware of things that tend to drain your time and that those aren't always good for you An example, you love watching videos, but they aren't always the best thing to do with your day. You like Veggie Tales, Minnie Mouse and watching Worship videos.
You are recognizing the need of sharing your best stuff...Of denying what you want for the benefit of another. You are working with Owen to put others first.
You are growing in your confidence in your independence. You are saying hello to our neighbors and trying to interact with them from our yard without our prompting.
You are beginning to see victory over sin. Today you said, "Daddy when I got dressed today, I didn't complain!"
You can get stuck on something and not. let. it. go. Sometimes those thoughts are stuck on mistakes we make. :) Sometimes they are stuck on going somewhere..."when are we going to do errands? when are we going to errands? when are we going to do errands?
You desire to dress yourself. It is a discussion most days as to what is the best outfit to wear.
For some reason you don't think wearing a coat, in January, is necessary. And you don't always think wearing socks is necessary either.
You sleep with a mouse named Bunny, and a bunny named stitch, in a queen size bed that is often used for our guests. Then you love the homemade 'pockets' you get to sleep in on our floor when they come.
You are still taking naps, but there have been plenty of days where you have played in your room for rest time on your bed-and you've been very creative in your imaginative conversations!
Your blond hair is very straight, but it holds a curl great when I curl it.
In social settings you are very observant. You are quiet and watch everything. It will take a handful of minutes before you warm up and understand the new place you are in.
We are trying to help you learn to make friends. You know how to introduce yourself and have started making friends.
You love going to Church.
You sleep about 12 hours a night and wake up sometimes to go the bathroom or to tell us, 'I need a snuggle'.
Being outside is fun, but so is playing in your room, or coloring or reading. You enjoy all activities.
You are into helping me do chores, and love when I give you a task. Your chores right now include setting the table with cups and silverware.

You are learning to save and spend money. Your favorite spot to spend money-a hot apple cider at Starbucks!

You love play dates with friends and love the days when we run errands.

Little girl, you are a JOY to have in our life. We LOVE you, our daughter, to the moon and back. We don't know what the Lord will do with your life, but we pray earnestly that He uses it mightily. Right now, you know Jesus is real. You know He is always there for you. You believe the Bible is true and great and lovely. You've memorized a few verses and we hope they find a permanent home in your heart. We are praying that you continue to grow into a woman of God that loves His people and knows of the Father's love for you .

You love your dad, mom and brother. And we love you beautiful one!

Nutritional moment by katie

We are having a snack right now. -Hummas and pretzels.
Katie just got some grapes out of the frige.
She told me, "mom you have to have some fruit because you shouldn't have just grains."
She is a mini me.
It is scaring me how much she mimics.
Oh dear and she is only 3.5 years old.

And little girl to set the record straight...one is to eat fats/protein with grains-it helps with digestion!
But terrific try, we do love fruit. :)

Handsome little boy

Journaling-Dear Hope

Dear Hope,

I am choosing to write this letter to let you know we believe there is hope and mercy and grace.

(And please forgive me for all my grammatical errors! :)

Life is hard, isn't it. It's a journey that has many twists and turns and ups and downs. Sometimes we travel on the plains or the valleys or mountaintops. And we don't stay in one place for long. Each day comes and goes and life moves along.

It's a hard place that you are in. There is no way on this planet I would wish for you to be in the spot you are. Without hope.

Sometimes the seasons are dark. Sometimes they are long. But most of all they are lonely, right?

I know that without hope there isn't a reason to get out of bed each day. Without hope there isn't a reason to press on. There's not a reason to trust people. There's not a reason to give a little and love. Who knows you might be wrong and disappointed again. Why try.

But I have named you Hope in this letter for a reason. Because it is the truth-There. is. hope.

From all that you struggle with, all that is in your thoughts and heart, somebody still loves you and is fighting for faith with and for you. You aren't alone. You aren't in this daily battle by yourself. I believe that and we are praying it settles into your being.

I know that the idea of God, your lover, is hard to understand. It is for me too. But He deeply Loves you and me. He searches for us always. He holds you as His preciousness. You are safe with Him. You can let down your guard and pour your heart out to Him. Nothing, nothing, can separate you from His love.

He is the reason that you wake up each day-He sustains you. He is the reason you have victory over little moments each day-He is sustaining you.

As you look back at your life, seek to see the faithfulness of His hand in guiding you. Hold on to those. And when you can't see them, ask others to point them out to you.

And then, we are here for you. We love you and desire to walk this life with you. We want to be a source of encouragement to you. You can always call!

Jesus is your hope, dear friend, and we are praying immensely for you.

With love,
us

1 Corinthians 1:20-31 May we each rest in His rescue and deep love of us.

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

2:5

So that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

A weekend project-the pantry

I love the pantry. Don't get me wrong. I love my Jesus, my family and my friends more. But what space or closet gets opened zillions of times a day. It is a closet in demand by everybody in the house. Hear me out, I am so thankful to have a large closet for food stuff. It is really large, for our size of house and I am glad. But I have been reorganizing it every few days because it is hard to use well. The shelves though they are deep and hold plenty of things, are hard to use quickly and without making it messy by constant rearranging.

So Justin kindly took on my project for the weekend. I wanted a few shelves moved, it painted and to buy a basket or two. It took about 6 hours with two kids 'helping'. But I LOVE my pantry even more! It is great that by spending about $20 and a simple changing of the shelves can make something SO much more usable.

Katie helped paint, Owen cried because he couldn't help paint (we did try to let him help, but he immediately put his hands in the paint!) and I tried to keep both kids OUT of the paint and OUT of the food on the counter while Justin did the work. Thank you LOVE for doing this project for me! I know you liked the outcome too. Oh, and Katie opened the pantry door and said, "it looks amazing!" Yep, it does! :) Small things make this mom joyful.

Before

Rearranged shelves-only one set is wide now which is at waist level.

Final product!

Natural Science Museum

The kids were SUPER DUPER excited to go on a 'field trip'. We couldn't get out of the house and on our way fastest enough! :)

The great thing about this museum is that there are a million things to do, touch, listen to, it's free and there are wide rows to run down-a super plus. Owen loved looking at the fish and trying to touch them.

I had another mom take a photo of us. I look the most excited, but I think it was because the kids had no idea who was behind the camera and I didn't either. I just wanted a photo of me and the kids! :)

We again went into the butterfly conservatory. It really is amazing how many combination of bright colors adorn such small frail creatures. Our God is creative!

Owen is trying to be a rhino, hence the scrunched nose. It is adorable!

And finally, we are ready to go home. Thanks Raleigh for this great museum. We hope to come back soon.

Oh and we did do story time this time and it was neat! We got to pet some small creatures and hear a cute book about a mouse. Guinea pig, baby rats, chinchilla, beavers-these creatures are rodents! These are defined by their ever-growing two front teeth. I didn't know that!

Hi sweet girls...

It was GREAT fun to hang out with these two! Thanks for stopping by to visit. :) Dinner soon, Sabrina? And Brandy...we miss you in TX!

Not me

I confined Owen to his chair because of this...I think he was still in shock that he managed to make such a big mess, and that he didn't get to play in it.

I told Owen, to close the door to the pantry, I thought he did-he didn't. Instead he pulled down the 3 lb bag of rice off the shelf and spilled it. Lovely. I was in the middle of making dinner so it was an extra fun time at 4:50 in the afternoon-(sarcastically said)

But then again, doesn't every child love to "see what will happen"? :)

Friends. Sisters.

Katie has an imagination that is REALLY real. Everything talks in our house and has a mind of its own. Buzz Lightyear flies around our heads all the time. Jessie is constantly saying YeeHaw. Julie the cheerleader is bouncing here and there and joins in conversations all. the. time. Then there are the imaginary animals that sneak into her room, but they are kind. Oh except for the Bumble off Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer-his teeth had to be taken out in order to be kind. But he's kind now. Or there is Henry the purple elephant that plays hid and seek at nighttime. I heard he was in Kansas recently with our little friend Issac, but I am sure he made it back by now. There are ballerinas, cowgirls, and puppy dogs named Bucha. Anytime you would like some imagination play, come on over!

Julie the cheerleader and Jessie the cowgirl are the best of friends. And then some days they are sisters. You just never know.

Then there is Magnolia Grace Hime and Lily Grace Hime. Both are American Girl dolls from Nana and are in need of nursing, singing to, hugging etc all the time too. They are sisters and sometimes I am their grandma-oh boy! Katie puts them down to bed, changes their clothes and has conversations with them about obeying and being kind to each other. Owen even walks around patting their backs. These girls are Katie's sisters though she asked me a few days ago, "when is my new little sister going to come home?" Not sure what she was referring to, though I am pretty sure she firmly believes she will have a little real sister someday.

So if you are ever at our house you will definitely have to come see all the girls. If you stay to long you will be roped into talking for them and playing! :)

I just got done with a bit of play time with Katie and the dolls. It is precious to see her care for these 'little ones' as she says. And it has also provided a way to teach things to her. It is amazing that by playing on her level so much of her world can be seen by me. Praise the Lord for moments like this that help me to love her by simply playing.

Katie just told me...

When I come in to wake her up from her nap she will still be wide asleep.
Ha!

Journaling-2011 thoughts

10,000 steps of faith. That's what 2011 is about at our house. It isn't about the BIG idea or the next BIG thing. It won't be what happens around the corner that will bring us joy. It is about taking 10,000 steps of faith. This article by Paul Tripp encouraged me, it might spur you on too.

So here are my little steps for this new year-most are things that I do everyday, but that's what I wanted. I want things that I can accomplish and that are valuable to me. Nothing earth shattering on my list, but I hope to keep walking towards God-towards the things of God-pointing in my little life, people-especially my kids and husband towards God. The mundane is important! May I keep my heart, mind, soul, body working with everything in me to faithfully care for my family-SO THAT THEY SEE JESUS.

But only by His grace, only by His grace.

1. Read through the Bible this year
2. Read one book a month. Anything-from fiction to theology to comics
3. Walk a few times a week outside, exploring with the kids-just get outside
4. One date a month with Justin and kids
5. Keep the blog updated
6. Pray while doing dishes
7. Search articles/books/blogs and discuss nutrition with friends
8. Invite friends/neighbors over for dinner once a month
9. Get out of dodge-have a holiday, on the spur of a moment and a planned trip
10. Make memories and blog them-printing off the blog into books
11. Buy flowers for the table, as many times as I can
12. Dance with the kids
13. Invest in people-time, talents, treasures: O2 groups, sweet girls, family, neighbors, friends
14. Make sleep a priority
15. Memorize Scripture -use TCC Scripture memory cards.

Friday night. Fort night. Fun pizza night.

Justin and I have been praying about how to make regular nights special. Boy, is it hard to be creative! We have both been trying to think of things that we as kids enjoyed doing. One such thing-forts! Here is our Friday night fort. The kids loved it!

And if you try this at home remember that if a fort falls over, never try to put it back together-always start over! One other note-dads build really good forts!

We ordered Pizza from one of our favorite spots-Zpizza and ate under the tent with a flashlight.

Owen eating the flashlight, though he chowed down on the pizza too!

Yum!!

Any other recommendations of fun family activities?? Pass them along, please!

Helpers.

I decided to make some muffins with my two little helpers. I made these muffins in speed mode, so that nobody would get hurt. :)

As you can see Owen insisted on being on the stool. And a lot of tears ensued when I put the stool away. He so wants to be like his big sister! But he did a good job putting ~5 spoons in the mixing bowl to help mix. And he liked the batter. PS I like his hair better short! So glad to get his little boy hair cut. :)

Katie is turning into quite the little baker. She added the spices and licked the beaters very professionally!

Our finished mini pumpkin muffins. They turned out pretty good if you ask me!

We had Company and LOVED it!

Hi Ms. Brandy, Mr. John, and Nahum. We LOVE having you three visit us from TX. We would love it if you all lived closer, but alas we are thankful for visits-thanks for making our house one of your travel stops!

We couldn't get enough of your smiles, little boy! Thanks for sleeping in Katie's closet--glad to know it works well for a pack n play. :)

Katie and the rest of us, enjoyed much play time.

Simply sweet couple!
Live joyful and enjoy Austin for this season of your life. Hugs from the NC 4

Our house: living room

I found this photo in a decorating book and have always loved it. We have never been able to get this look because we have always had carpet in the living room-amazing how much flooring plays into the feel of the room. But not anymore! I love the simpleness of the white and neutral colors. I love that it seems warm and inviting-but basic. I love that it is kid friendly, entertains well and works well in this stage of life. I am excited to change it up a bit during different seasons with pillows making a splash of color or on the mantel placing different items from around the house.

This is a view from our front door. It was taken at night so it is very warm in color (sorry still working on my lighting!), but the couch is a honey color, the walls a dark cream, the rug a honey color also and then the dark pieces like the leather ottoman and table and chairs. The trim is white as is the mantel. ...And the wood a walnut color.

We saved all our Craigslist money and bought the set that we really wanted from PB. (I think I seriously searched every furniture store in Raleigh, plus Craigslist and then the outlet stores too, but nothing measured up for small spaces!) I hope and pray that it will last a long time. It is their set that is the most tailored and for small spaces. So far it is super comfy and we are GLAD to finally have something after being without for 6 months.

This view is from our hallway looking straight into the living room, or as the kids call it, the play area! We have been able to really use just about everything that we have, only buying about 6 things to finish the house. We thought that was pretty good.

Again, it was SO helpful to have the PB staff come out and answer my amazingly long list of questions about how to do home decor! We are glad we got their recommended size of couch, glad to raise our dining room chandler to about 42" and also glad to think about how to do small spaces with the 'experts'. Keep the colors in the same color spectrum was also a helpful thought!

Our new beloved couch! Right now the pillows are paisley in blues/greens/yellows, but I might make some in reds/pinks/greens for the summer time!

A view from our dining room.

That's it and that's all folks! Thankful to have a home. Thankful to have a husband who supports my desire to make it inviting and to wisely spend money on items. Thankful to a God who has given way more then we deserve.

Now...wanting to have you peeps over for dinner and coffee!