hope you had a merry christmas

On Christmas Eve we had our last night of advent.  We lit all of our candles, read the Christmas Story from our kid's Bible, and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.  Even though it was the night before, I knew it was the calmest moment there would be to have a special moment of worship.  The girls enjoyed watching this video while they ate their cupcakes.   

This was one of my favorite memories from a wonderful week last week.  We enjoyed special time with our extended family (including 2 slumber parties at each of the grandparents' homes).  It was also a delight to have Adam home and all to ourselves for a whole week.

the scream

I haven't shared anything in awhile.  This is really random, but here is my toddler imitating the anxious man in the painting The Scream.  This may seem strange that a 2 year old would do this (I don't know what this says about our weird family).  It makes us laugh right now and it had to be photographed.  She saw the painting in a children's book that introduces art appreciation.  We've been checking some art books out from the library and reading them in home school. At least they are getting the message that art can be fun. :)

i don't know what to title this.

I love photos and writing. I love sharing my life on this little blog. I do find it hard though to share much of anything online when times are difficult. Part of me thinks that's just fine (my true introverted self) and the other part of me thinks, "I wish other people presented life as it really is more often." Sometimes it feels like there are not many people to relate to through online social media. Now, I know that's not true. It just feels that way sometime.

If you asked me how I'm doing right now...I might not want to say. Not because I'm doing bad. I just don't always feel the freedom to share heavy things. It's just so much easier to talk about surface-y stuff.

How am I doing? I'm pretty tired. There has been stress. When isn't there stress anymore? If my 3 kids were the only thing on my plate...I'd feel stressed. :) My prayer life is very focused on Amy right now. Adam's sister, Amy, found out there is more cancer in her body. We were doing the little happy dance one minute that it was gone, and the next minute it was all very sobering again. She is doing well after her surgery last week and we are waiting on test results to know more. We just love her so much that it is something on our minds and in our prayers often.

Last week our youngest daughter was wheezing again. Second time in the last month or so. Her doctor had me treat her for asthma sypmtoms (allergies-related?). It was like having a newborn again waking up twice in the night to give her breathing treatments. She's doing much better now, but I was surprised by how taking care of her over the weekend wore me out.

And while this is very shallow...I'll still share it. This weekend my big girls and Adam were on the Father/Daughter campout. I got a lot of cleaning done. It is amazing how much you can do with 3 hours and no children. Right now...it doesn't look like I cleaned at all.

48 hours + 3 children + tired mom = mess.

Inspite of the hard things in life, I'm thanking God often of His presence in my life and in our home. I do not feel alone. Everywhere I turn I'm hearing Him speak to all my situations. I'm talking with family and friends often. God's provided time for me to rest recently. He provided 4 cooked meals in my fridge in the past 7 days when I've wanted to do anything but cook. I just wanted to share a little of that. I hope when you have heavy times you share them too. Things are lighter after you do. :)

My girl at two years old. Very independent. She didn't want my help. She'd just sit and hold the nebulizer until her dose was finished, all by herself.

pumpkins @ sweetberry farms 10.25.10

some days need a little adventure...

I woke up on Oct. 19th with all of this on my mind:

• I wanted to get out of the house and have a little adventure.  
• I wanted to enjoy my kid and give her so much attention she was actually satisfied. :) 
• I needed to clear my head and empty it a little of life's chaos.  
• I needed to see my sister.  
• I wanted to click my shutter a bit and see beautiful things.  
• I thought it sounded fun to reminisce and enjoy memories of my years on campus.

All of this together convinced me to try something new and give myself permission to enjoy a morning downtown in the midst of a busy week.  The only set plan was meeting my sister for lunch.

The kiddo and I took the metro-rail from Leander after dropping off the girls at school.  She loved the train!  It reminded me of my summers in NYC and Atlanta.  I don't often feel like I live in a big city, but if felt like that yesterday.

We explored campus a little bit and stepped into the Texas Memorial Museum.  This wasn't planned at all but it was open at 9am and I had time to kill before the art gallery opened at 10.  My girl loved the Texas wildlife dioramas and the "pretty" rocks.  I thought of how much my older girls would enjoy it.

We crossed campus taking in everything.  I was reminded of how pretty it is.  There was a lot of construction and it was tricky having a stroller with how many steps there were.  We went to the West Mall and sat for a bit with a snack.  We were parked near the "Save the Albino Squirrel Preservation Society" table.

I wanted to walk through the Harry Ransom Center where there was a photography exhibit.  My little one appeased me, but I didn't stay long.  I'd love to go back - toddler-less.

Rachel met me at a cafe table outside of my old dorm, Littlefield.  We ate lunch and caught up a bit.  It was much too brief.  Peanut colored Dora pictures and then refused to gift them to Rachel...so sad.

We caught our express bus back to Leander.  It surprised me how nice those buses are.  They are like motor coaches.

The whole day allowed me to clear my head...believe it or not.  I had a lot of walking and sitting (with a surprisingly quiet kid).  I think she was just so happy for the 1-on-1 time.  Our parenting life occupied my thoughts a lot and how I need to trust God with it.  Ministry at the church was on my mind and I was reminded of how I need to trust God with it.  I thought about my relationships and how I'm falling short in many of them...and that I need to trust God with that too.  Notice a theme?

Sometimes I need to take a holiday from my stresses and while it may have not sounded like a "relaxing" day...it proved to be a day where I could listen to God and be refreshed.

I am not sure what we find more hilarious:
1. Our ridiculously, silly friends (whoever they may be) for doing this between 6:30-7:00 at night!
2. Or the embarrassing size of our dinky trees...

Any guess on the culprit?
Adam and I are laughing so hard, while giving everyone the suspicious-eye.

old pecan street festival

Last saturday, Adam took the girls out for Daddy donut date. I had the most wonderful cup of coffee and Bible study in my silent house (amazing!). We got out for a little while and went as a family to the festival. We came home and napped. I made a big dinner and we crashed again. It was a wonderful Saturday. Those kind of days are rare for us, so I enjoyed every minute of it.

life in front of the camera can be rough

Adam liked this one.

just her & an obsession

I was caught off guard by how much they both like this little pretend game. Plus, it just looks hilarious.

the night before kinder

36 days ago I wrote this:

"Tomorrow is your first day of Kindergarten, Peach. I can't believe it! You just turned 5 last week and we think you are a brave little girl to be starting Kinder this year.

You have been the little girl in our family who loves family time at home the most. You love having us all together. So this is a big step to be going to school on your own as a big kid. One thing we are praising God for this year is that you get to join your sister at school. Y'all get to be best-friend-sisters at home and at school. We hope you make some great memories at school with new friends, but we also hope you make some great memories with your sister.

You packed up your school supplies this afternoon & you picked out your outfit...and I could tell it got you really excited. For 2 years now, you have been in the car with me taking big sis to school. Now it is your turn to be a new student.

We think your are so smart. Daddy and I are always amazed at what you can accomplish when you focus your mind on it. We are also continually amazed at how brave and fearless you can be when we least expect it (like loving roller coasters and buying things at the store on your own).

Tonight I thought it was so cute that I found your water bottle in your backpack already filled up with water. You wanted to be all ready today and I think you are. Your teacher is wonderful and you have already met a handful of really sweet classmates. Have fun and be friendly. I'll be thinking about you all day, not because I don't think you are ready...but because I don't feel ready to let you grow up. You are my sweet, cuddly kid and I'll be missing you tomorrow.
I love you and I was thinking about you. I couldn't sleep until I wrote you some of my thoughts.
Love, MOM"

a little tradition I started here

first lemonade stand

The girls sold lemonade at our recent garage sale. I thought they made a killing with their $6.75 earnings. That was at a quarter a cup. They were busy.

saying goodbye to wish fish

We have sad girls over here because their only pet, Wish Fish, died.  There were even more tears than I expected last night.  We said goodbye and sent him on with a flush.

I don't think I've every written about Wish Fish and I have to tell his story.  You see, Wish Fish, was the craziest party favor we have ever received!  I can say that and know that the friend who gave him to us should be laughing right now. :)  He came home with us 2 1/2 years ago, I think, or maybe 3 years!

I never bought him a bowl, he was always in a vase I already owned.  He was kept alive for so long only because my husband faithfully fed it.  Adam claimed that he was a he, because he's so out-numbered around here.

We have marveled at that fish for so long.  Long after all the other "party favor" fish had died.  Now my girls are looking at me with puppy-dog-eyes and longing for a new pet and I can't quite think about that yet.

For my friends who have been amazed by my neglected, but loved, fish for so many years...you must know that I'm sad for the little guy in the end.  If you have any words of comfort for the kiddos, I'll make sure they read it. ;)

i love mom

I have something big to share!  Huge.  Kind of gave it away in the title...

She now says, "I love mom."

You know, it often hits me how independent they already are and it can overwhelm me.  But then they go and start saying, "I love mom."  And I'm perfectly content with how old she is and how much she's not a baby anymore.  Just one of life's little rewards, I guess.

She also says, "I love dad" and "I love sissy."  But my other favorite is when we tell her we love her and she points to her chest and says, "I love me."  Classic, isn't it?  It makes me laugh.  (Yes, sometimes you love yourself too much.  It is true of me too, honey.)

5:14 p.m.

She looks like a tech-savvy 2 year old, doesn't she?  These are possibly my favorite moments...just goofing off with my kids...probably procrastinating something else. ;)  I think you can tell, she was totally hamming it up for me.  Every once in awhile she'd get distracted and show me her "boo boo."  We'd also have to take breaks and make sure she wasn't calling Japan.  That would hurt. 

1st day of kinder & 2nd

We are back in school!  I have Tues. & Thurs. with just one little girl now.  It's rather life-changing.  I also have one more girl to home school on our Mon/Wed/Fri. school days though.  That's a little tricky. 

The only one in the family who cried on the first day of school was our toddler.  She misses her sisters like crazy and she gets giddy when we go to pick them up.  It's sweet.

Well, having two kids in school is still really hard to believe.  Kinder?  Really?  She was just born yesterday.  It actually makes me feel older all of a sudden.  Not a good older...like wiser or more mature. No, just old.

I wish I had more pics to share but I took just a few - and they are the world's worst photos.  Oh well, I was just lucky to get them off to school with the bizillion things we had to remember.

Yes, we sense trouble ahead…

If you are the baby of the family, I imagine it’s tempting to want to always be treated as the baby. You get a lot of attention and spoiling.  Well, when you are 2…you just flat out admit it.

Yes, we are totally raising our eyebrows at this and can see that there is trouble ahead for us. As my mom articulated, ”She has your number! Just wait till she’s a teenager and she wants that expensive prom dress. She’ll pull out this argument.” Little does she know that she has 2 first-borns for parents…and we can see through this completely.

But for now we will laugh and chuckle at her honesty. This is the on-going discussion we’ve been having this week:
“Don’t you know you are a big girl now?”
“No! I’m momma’s baby!”

And fake sneezing is hilarious.

for ashley

A little while back my cousin, Ashley, wrote a post including an old cousins photo.  She was shocked that I didn't comment on the incredibly flattering photo of myself.  :)  Well, here's my response.  Ash, as you enjoy the flashbacks that I can offer...just remember you opened this door.  Heehee.

The 4 of us grew up close.  I loved sharing childhood with my cousins and sister.  I'm still so grateful that they are close and we are still making memories.

this girl makes me smile

Last week was a hard week.  It was Bible club week, which is enjoyable & exhausting.  On top of that, every one of our 3 girls got a stomach virus all on different days.  It was a nasty bug.  There was a lot of laundry!  I'll spare you all the details.  I had 2 sleepless nights...that I still feel like I'm recovering from one week later.

I've been tired.  I took only a handful of pictures of club stuff.  So I went to go look through those photos and I found these.  I barely remember taking them...and I can't tell you what day this was.  But they made me smile.  I love bathtime pictures.

First of all, my toddler is contained...when else does that happen? Second, she's happy which sometimes (I'll be honest) feels like a rare moment in this fussy-toddler-phase.  Finally, for all of it's challenges I love this age.  I have a feeling that I will treasure these pictures more than most.  Her little chubby hand.  Her last baby curls (aka the rat tail...as my sister calls it).  Her fascinations with water & bath toys...which lead to water everywhere.  All of this encourages me when I stop to think about it.  And as one-tired-mom...I needed the encouragement and the smile that this little girl brings to my face.

backyard Bible club started today!

Tonight was our first night of Backyard Bible Clubs. This is our 4th year to have a team of teenagers from our church come and lead a club with our neighborhood kids. They play fun relay games, the team teaches them a lesson from the Bible, and shares the message of the gospel each night with kids. Our family looks forward to it every year!

She's two!

I have quite a bit of catching up to do on here.  I want to share trip pictures from our big roadtrip to Virginia + tons of other stuff.  There is one big thing that I need to do first.  We had a birthday over here recently!  Our "little bits" turned two on June 29th.  She's two!  That's crazy!

We celebrated with Adam's family...then some close friends...then my family.  It was just right.

panama city beach, florida :: june 2010

My sister and I traveled to Florida with the girls last month.  We got to tag along with our youth group's beach camp trip.  Adam was there with the junior high & senior high students acting as interim youth pastor.  (We didn't see him much that week actually).

It turned out to be a great week for us.  My girls loved playing with the teenagers.  They were all really sweet playing with them in the pool and on the beach.  I loved the time with my sister.  No joke, when we got back home...I went through Rachel withdrawals for a couple of days.  It was a blast being roommates for 5 days.

Our friend, Bobby, was the retreat speaker.  I really enjoyed the series he taught entitled Thirsty.  You can listen to the series here.  It was surreal going on the trip with Bobby & Amy because we went to beach camp with them many times when their kids were as young as ours.  This summer all their kids were on the trip & in the youth group.  It was such a visual to me of how fast these parenting years go!

One of our favorite memories from the trip...

Our 2 oldest girls got to go on a late night trip to a go-cart place with the teenagers (hanging with Dad a little in there too).  Everyone had glow sticks that night.  Our oldest daughter, the little entrepreneur, charms a bunch of the youth into giving her their bracelets.  On the ride back she attempts to sell them back to their original owners - "for a penny, quarter or dollar," she says.  She made over $3 in change...we were so proud.  Ha,ha.  She may be a bit of a swindler, but we praised her entrepreneurial sense.

Here is a glimpse of our trip.  No oil in sight at that point...we were elated.

Here are slide shows of how much fun the youth group had - here and here.

summer mornings

I think I may have been the one most excited about summer in my household!  Here we are all in our pajamas at 9:35am.  I look at this moment and think....I love their bed head in the morning, their mismatched pjs, and just a general goofball-ness they all have.  I'm grateful for the time together.  Time for them to be sisters and friends...and the time I've been blessed with, to be with them, as a constant observer.  I love what I do.

my "drink-stealer"

Toddlerhood is very honest. There are not a lot of words, but there is so much said.

I love it when you run outside to find dad, only to discover that it's raining...and you don't like that. Right now, you don't like any kind of falling water on you...as we discovered at the water park. :) But all day long you say, "I want Dad!" or "Dad home?"...so he's worth a little rain on your head.

Right now, you do a lot of things to try and get out of trouble. When you've hurt someone with your amazing strength, you kiss them before there's been any time for a reprimand.

You also do the cutest dance we have ever seen when you are caught playing with something that is on the "no-no" list.

Sometimes you rediscover a toy that you haven't played with for ages and you play like its brand new.

When you say "milk" it sounds like you are saying "gak!"

You ask for my Coke and iced tea all day long. Sounds like "Goke" and "Tea." I don't love it when you steal my drink, but you get away with it the most of everyone in the house. Because you are a toddler and you work really hard at being so cute that we let you get away with it.

little one + big sis.

Since I've last blogged we have been on a mega-roadtrip as a family. I'll overwhelm this blog with photos of our vacation soon. For now, they are all still sleeping files in my camera. I had these pics to share in the meantime. Little Peewee & her big sis...goofing off in the playroom. I've been taking tons of photos of my "baby". She'll be two in about a month. Their littleness is much too brief...and I know I'm not alone in my feelings on that.:)

tea for two

My daughter's school hosted a Mother & Daughter tea last Sunday afternoon. I jumped at the chance to have some one-on-one time with my oldest girl. We enjoyed tea & cookies for about 15 minutes and then I watched her play down in the creek for about 30 minutes (sigh). It's a little bit of a different era these days.  We can't keep the kids sitting too proper for too long and I'm kind of glad.  It was fun watching the kids be kids. I think she even thought I was a little fun that day...which is always a treat. :)

ah, that's my girl...

so sweet one minute...

Sometimes I have to wake her up early from nap to go pick up big sis at school. Kids are just so adorable when they sleep!

This is what she's like...just moments later. :) It is totally understandable, sweetie.