Love & Joy

So the kids got up from naps the other day - the boy 1st & the girl about 20 minutes later. L ran down the stairs screaming her brother's name & squealed (b/c that's what little girls do) as she ran & threw her arms around him. They both laughed. I stood back & delighted that they enjoyed each other. That they love each other. It made my heart skip a beat to see my children so happy to be with each other. And God reminded me of His words & gave me a glimpse, like He so often does......Love one another......in that moment those words were alive for me. My children....loving one another brought me joy. I imagine that on a tiny scale, I experienced the joy that God must feel when His children Love one another. It's true to me now more than ever that God is so alive & He is with us! Carrying us in the hard times & just nudging ... like He did so gently today for me....love one another...

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Romans 12:10

Oh, how I want to follow the example of my children.....

Just smiles

It has been happy times around the house these days. Lots of smiling faces...and nothing makes me happier. I heard some clank-clanking through the house the other day - I assumed L had gotten out her dress up shoes from Christmas. Which is normal around here. Pink & purple wedges, pink pumps with sparkles......When she turned the corner....this is what I got :). Wearing mom's boots. And brother on the floor, just smiling. And the dog....well, he's getting used to the kids & I honestly think he's faking the "put out" look for attention. It was a good day. Here's one for the memory books....always good to remember the smiles.

Snow

So we got a little snow. It was fun. It was cold. I actually didn't partake in the snow playing activities. Call me wimpy - I can take it. L & her dad had fun & the little guy & mom watched from the front door & then ran inside to make hot chocolate. I know that I have some friends from Minnesota that will be reading this - they'll laugh & make fun, but I live in ATLANTA - I don't enjoy the cold when it doesn't involve snow skiing. Here are some pictures from the day.....

We didn't get enough to really make a snowman, or maybe we did but the kids were napping at prime snowman making time, so we made cottonball snowmen :) Much more my speed. I used to love the snow & maybe I will again, but I am not enjoying cold like I have in the past.....I'll update you if that changes, but for now I'm sticking to cottonball snowmen.

Pictures

Just some pictures that make me smile.

Sitting Gracefully

Why is it that sitting still is so difficult? I have been told by several people to just "sit still" - so I am trying. But when I sit I am leaving things undone. The phone rings & I have not completed tasks I need to complete, so I either don't answer or answer with a knot in my stomach. So I sit & bathe in the guilt of sitting. It's a difficult thing to give yourself a break these days....why is that? Grace is not given readily. And I am learning that I expect grace - when grace is really not necessarily deserved. And so I take it for granted. You see, I expect people to just understand & cut me slack, but that's not how it works. I am certainly to blame in this arena- I should do a better job of extending grace. People get let down & their expectations are not met & someone always needs to be in the seat of blame & so that grace that we expect is not given. Which makes me so grateful for the grace I have been given. I will never ever ever meet all of my deadlines, meet everyone's expectations, be on time for everyone & people will be let down & some will extend grace & some will not. It's not a guarantee. But it is with God. And I take that for granted. I so desperately seek the grace & acceptance of others that I forget the one who lavishes me with grace & acceptance all the time. Can I rest in that?

I will try. Can I reflect that grace to my children? That has been a bigger question. I tend to expect much from my children & it is so unnecessary. When you are 3, you tend to do things that a 3 year old would do - she is not a 24 year old trapped in a little body...she is in fact .... only 3. L loves to put on my "lipstick" - it's chapstick. We're big chapstickers in my family. I come from a long line of chapstickers. My uncle died last year & I was in his home just after his funeral & opened a drawer to find a box of like 200 tubes of chapstick. I grinned. AndI grin everytime I pull mine out. But I digress....L knows not to go in my purse. I mean, I have told her many times, she should get it, right?

My expectation vs the reality that she is 3.

So I turned the corner the other day & saw a fast movement out of the corner of my eye.

"What's up?" I ask

"Oh, nofing" she responds with berry colored lipstick all over her face.

A choice. My choice. I have an opportunity. Do I A) send home the message with a swift smack on the bottom or a time out? or B) just ignore it

"Whatcha been doin'?" I ask.

"Um, I do nofing"

So I picked her up gently, and walked her into the bathroom & turned her around so she could see herself. We both giggled. She's 3. It's fun that she's 3. It's so much fun that she is doing exactly what a 3 year old should be doing & I get to be a part of it. Wouldn't it be nice if we all extended each other that kind of grace. I wish that when I made a mistake that someone would giggle with me about the human-ness of making mistakes. We should do that for each other more often. And for me, it will begin with resting in the grace pouring over me from above.....and may it overflow all over my children.

Side note: this picture was actually taken later with some pretty princess lipgloss - I don't keep purple lipstick in my purse :)

Happy New Year!

Every January my husband looks at his goals that he set the year before to see how he did. He's into Excel & lists & all sorts of things that I'm not so into....so I have given him a hard time about it. He has encouraged me from the beginning to join him in this....to no avail. Until this year. This year he pulled out his goals & said, "in 2006 i worked out this many ___ days & in 2007 I worked out this many ___ days! And in 2006 I read this many books & in 2007 I read twice as many books!" and so on..... I was a bit envious. I couldn't account for anything. Well, that's not totally true. I did give birth to a human being & I feel pretty accomplished there. But I don't foresee any babies being born (to me) in 2008 & want something to show for a whole year. Maybe I should set goals like "In 2007 I changed this many diapers & in 2008 I canged THIS many diapers!"

So I've done it. I've set some goals & I'm really excited about. I feel more empowered than I have in years past where I was depriving myself of something. This year I'm doing something. Moving forward. Very excited.

And so....to what was accomplshed in 2007 .....and to what will be accomplished in 2008!

Happy New year......again.

Who will it be?

This is not a post about my kids. Shocker. Can hardly believe I found time to fit other realms of thinking into my brain....but I did & I want to talk about it. I'm wondering who I can really get behind for President. Strange. I wonder if I have gone into elections in the past based on a mix of my opinions, but primarily the opinions of others...probably because I never thought I knew enough so I leaned on the knowledge of people that I thought should know. So, I took this quiz.

It's actually got me thinking & learning about a couple of candidates that had I walked into the polls yesterday, would not have gotten my vote. It takes 2 minutes - check it out. Pass it on.

Happy 2008! It's gonna be a big year!

This Year....Simplify

Some may be thinking that I have given up blogging for the New Year, but it just isn't so. In fact, I've added a lot "to do's" for 2008. I used to give things up - like chocolate, sweets altogether, cokes, but with all the reading & exercising & organizing I've heaped on myself for this year I don't see that giving up chocolate is going to help me in any way. I've realized this January that a blank slate is a dangerous thing for me....well, at least a blank calendar is. It's screaming for me to "fill it up"! I'm trying to stay focused this year & not fill up my calendar like I tend to do. The kids are so much happier when we are not rushing around trying to do things that are not nearly as important as just being home....the days of us all being home are numbered - I know that. So this year, I'm letting go of the need to be included & be involved - the need to be busy - you know that feeling that keeps you up way too late? The feeling like you might miss out. I'm letting go of that this year.

I hope you are all having happy new years - I'll keep blogging. I mean hey, with all this together time there's bound to be some good blogging material, right?

And, now, to catch you up on some pictures of the fam.....