Thankfulness: Year Three

For the last two years, I have made November a Month of Thankfulness on the ol' blog here.  I love this little tradition!  It keeps my focus where it should be.  Since this year we are a bit more stressed out, with the move and all, I think it is even more needed.  In fact, I even got the kids and The Hubs involved.   I will not only keep track of our daily thankfulness here, but we are spending time as a family, during our devotion time, to talk about what we are most thankful for as well.   With all the busyness around these parts, don't be surprised if/when you see just a list.   In fact, that's most likely what you'll see.   Again, my prayer is that we might reflect back on these at a later date, and as a family, reflect on God's faithfulness, goodness, and love.

So without further ado, Day 1:

Me: Running into a friend unexpectedly at basketball tryouts.  Thank you, Lord, for friendships that last through time, rough spots, and good times.
S: Provision for the new house.
P: Doing well at Basketball tryouts.
D: Getting to see my counselor to work out friendship stuff.

This Week Could Not Have Come Sooner

I'm on the brink. 

Seriously.

I don't think I can remember a time in my life when I've been busier.  Between working part-time as a teacher, a full Fall photo shoot schedule, and two kids who are overly very involved in after school activities, I feel like I'm at a breaking point.  I have never had an issue with driving or being around people all day, but both of these things make me want to crawl into a room, turn off the lights, and sleep. 

In summary:  I'm not handling the busyness well.

However, this week is Fall Break.

When I saw our school schedule for the 2013-2014 school year, I thought it was weird that Fall Break was a week early.  Now, I'm so thankful!

I've been dying to read, clean/organize closets, plan out my science units until Christmas break, and write, write, write.  (Aren't I just a poster child for "cool"?)

Seriously.  There are some things that I have just needed to attend to, and for the life of me, there isn't enough time in the day.

Until now.

I have a sticky note on my computer it reads: Photos, Plan, Closets, Read, WRITE!  Lest, I get sucked into wasting my time on Facebook or other random internet searches, I have this bright yellow sticky to remind me of what I really want to do.

Thankfully, the kids are so excited to just chill as well.  They both are craving some TV time and jammie days.  And, can I just say? That makes my heart swell with love and pride.  My little sweeties!

Yesterday, I had some time to chat with some other parents as I volunteered at the kids' school for The Girl's class program.  I heard about family vacations and all sorts of Fall Break activities people had planned.  Instead of feeling bad that I had nothing planned for the kids or I, all I could think to myself was, "Thank GOODNESS!" 

The only thing I will need to fight against this week is sleeping too much, or sitting in front of the TV for too long.  And in the event that this does happen, I will still consider my Fall Break to be a roaring success.

A Christmas Miracle

I have to admit, I don’t always have the best attitude when it comes to Christmas.  As a child, it was always excitement.  The holiday was all about getting gifts.  What from my list would actually show up under the tree?  Then, I had kids of my own, and it became special again for new reasons.  For a few years.  I was excited to see Christmas through their eyes, to relive the magic that had long since dimmed for myself.  But, after a while, that too faded.

This year, I wanted to feel different than the last few years.  I wanted to feel like a child again, counting down the days, getting more and more excited as time passed.  I wanted Christmas to be more than just a day, but more like an experience in my heart.  I prayed that God would open my eyes anew to the season.  That I would understand more in depth exactly what it was I was celebrating, and also, what I wasn’t. 

Here is what He has shown me:

When Jesus was born the whole world changed.  As Mary gazed down at her brand new baby boy, she wasn’t looking at just any baby, she was looking at God Himself.  A God who, out of His great and perfect love for His people, and never wanting to be separated from a single one of us, left Heaven.  He got down off of His throne, put on flesh, and came into our dirty, sin filled, world as a baby.  A helpless baby.  A baby that was going to have to depend on a human to care for him.  To keep him safe and meet all of his needs.  The God of the universe, capable of all things, now incapable of caring for himself.  Our holy and perfect God, free of all sin,  now cared for by a human,  and in a world, both totally infected with sin.  Mary and Joseph looked down upon their child, and gazed into the eyes of God in the flesh. 

That is a miracle!  No one had seen God face to face like this before.  Moses had seen God’s shadow and goodness pass by him, and Isaiah fell face down unable to stand much less look at God when he entered God’s throne room in a dream. But here, Mary and Joseph stare into the eyes of their newborn son, and look straight into the eyes of God.  And this, this very thing, the fact that He is here, Emmanuel, God with us, changes everything!  It’s a miracle.

The birth of Jesus places God in our world.  Living in our conditions.  Tempted by the same temptations as we are.  He is with us, living, breathing, working, serving, loving.  And this was just the beginning.  

Many other miracles happen at the time of this miraculous birth.  There were shepherds who were visited by an angel of God, telling them that their king, savior, and messiah had been born. 

“8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
    and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.” Luke 2:8-20

Then the heavenly hosts declare the birth of Jesus.

“Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men[a] from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose,[b] and we have come to worship him.”...And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Matthew 2:1-2, 9b-11.

A star so bright and big that it catches the attention of wise men in a distant land.  Men who studied the heavens seeking to gain an understanding of events on earth.  This new star, so bright and beautiful, suggested to them the birth of a new and great king.  So, these wise men pack up and plan their pilgrimage to seek out this new king and pay tribute.  Both the shepherds and the wise men have the same response when they set their eyes upon Jesus.  Worship and praise.  

Instead of trying to comprehend intellectually an angel visiting them, a bright star that just appears in the night sky, or how in the world (let alone why) God would come to earth in flesh, they all just fall to their knees in humble worship, and praise God.  They knew they were looking face to face with a mysterious miracle.  And for these men, it changes everything.

And it changes everything for me too.

Previous to that day, we (humanity) were trapped.  Sin kept us stuck.  We were stuck trying to earn our way to God. We had to follow very strict laws in order to be considered righteous.  Inevitably, the laws would be broken.  Then there were more laws telling us how to deal with the broken laws.  If we did all the right things, stayed away from all the wrong things, and followed all the rules we could be considered righteous.  This righteousness would lead to eternal life with God.   Here’s the deal: I can’t live a perfect life.  Heck! I can’t live a perfect day.  I just can’t do it.  Can you feel the weight of this on your shoulders? Does it feel hopeless? 

But then...a baby came...a mysterious miracle.

One day, I’m stuck, hopeless, and giving up.  The next day, I have hope.

Everything has changed.

Christmas is just the beginning, and that is what I am celebrating.  It’s about a miracle.  It’s not about celebrating gifts, menus, people, or decorations.  I am celebrating something so much bigger.   I am celebrating the day in which the whole world changed.  It’s a moment in history that drew a dividing line in the sand.  The world was one way, and then it was all changed the next day.  The moment a teenage virgin, gave birth in a dirty stable, because there was no room for her or her baby anywhere else, our world changed. 

Life may be complicated, but God’s solution to life’s complications is to send us a baby who is unlike any other baby who has ever been born: God himself in human form, taking on our flesh, experiencing life from our perspective, so that we are no longer alone.  He is forever Emmanuel, God with us,  And in his company we can cope with whatever life hands us.  Because he shares in our humanity, we can experience His divinity forever. 

And how should I respond?  The same way that the shepherds and wise men responded.  On my knees, in humble worship and praise.  I respond with a surrendered life to my God who lives with us.  I respond with thankfulness that I worship a God who loves and longs for me to the extent of living in my world, and in my brokeness, so I could be with Him forever.  A thankfulness because I have a God who knows sin and was tempted in the same way I am each day, yet was without sin so He could bridge the gap between me and Himself.  And because of that bridged gap, I can respond in obedience to His call on my life and to His Word.  I am thankful for this day that both hope and love were born.   And I worship Him because this was His plan all along.

"1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
    The Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
    and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
  and the darkness can never extinguish it
14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son." (John 1:1-5, 14)

Next Time, We'll Sit a Few Rows Further Back

This weekend, besides recovering from the Flu, we headed out to our city's performance of The Nutcracker.  It was the first time the kids had been to a ballet.  As the show began, I wondered when they would ask when the dialogue would begin.  I was worried when they realized they were going to have to interpret what was happening on their own, they would quickly check out.  However, they were very still and attentive through out the show.  Paying very close attention to all that happened.

Very close attention.

During the final scenes, the main male dancer had some solo dances as well as a dance with the Dew Drop Fairy (I believe that's who it was?).   We were only four rows back, so our seats gave us a very unobstructed view of the entire show.  At one point, I noticed The Little Man leaning over to The Hubs and whispering something.  The Hubs quickly shot me a look, and I could tell he was swallowing back a laugh.  I had a feeling that I knew what was said, but wanted to wait to laugh talk about it later, with just The Hubs and I.

I didn't need to wait too long:

me: (On the ride home from the show) Did you guys like the show?
kids: YES!  That was really fun!
d: I loved seeing my friend there!  She did such a good job.  I know she saw me watching her. We locked eyes like seven times!
**Pause**
d: That guy at the end? his tights were really tight, right?
me: (Stifling back a laugh) Um, I guess.  I mean that's what tights look like, right?
d:  I know but it was like, put a skirt on that dude!  I mean, it was getting awkward.

The whole family roared with laughter at this point.  There was no holding back.  The rest of the way home, many jokes were made about men in tights.

Later, after we put the kids to bed, The Hubs told me that The Little Man had leaned over to tell him that he knew that the ballet dancer was a boy ballet dancer because, "He could just tell."

I'm still laughing.

So much for trying to add culture to our lives for refinement.

Oh well, we had a fun time as a family, and that's all that matters, right?

Some Stuff I Haven't Posted About Yet...

As we are at almost the half way point of December...GULP...I thought I should catch up on what's been goin' down:

I've been to some holiday plays and performances:

Here's The Little Man in a Thanksgiving performance

 We've done some super fun advent activities.  Favorites so far: Singing Christmas Carols together, an engraving art project, filling our Hope House stockings, tending to our growing grass, providing a treat to someone we've never given a treat to before, and hiding dollar bills as unexpected gifts at the Dollar Store.

 

I've put some silly kids to bed:

 

The Girl has had food poisoning...FUN!

My parents celebrated 40 years of marriage.

 

 I've gotten almost all of my Christmas shopping done, and I paid my kids $3 to stuff, seal, stamp, and send my Christmas cards.

The kids started Jiu Jitsu and L-O-V-E it.  I don't know why we didn't start earlier.

The Girl dragging her partner to safety

The Little Man practicing his new moves

 We've tried to make the new winter fashions look good:

We've learned so much about the heart and plans of God through His word and our advent devotionals.

The Hubs and I learned how important it is to have the complete address of a location where we were trying to get a couple's massage at.  Just missing one number can take you to a risky part of town!

We've started Basketball season.

We've looked into a different set of doctors for Scott.  Now the insurance battles can really begin!

The Little Man begins to battle Influenza B, and the rest of the family is praying we somehow will avoid it.

Awaiting the rapid flu test results.  Poor, miserable, dude!

If anything, December is consistent.  Consistently busy.

Oh, Advent, I Hear You Knocking. Please Come In.

After spending so much time focusing on things I'm thankful for, it seems only natural to transition into the Advent season.   I have been looking forward to this time for weeks, actually. 

Not sure what has been going on with me these last few years.  I keep blaming it on the weather, or our schedule, life circumstances, or a myriad of other things.  The truth is, I just haven't been able to get into the Christmas spirit until right up to the day of, or sometimes not until after.  Last year's advent was awesome.  I loved it.  However, I didn't connect the Advent to the celebration of birth of our Savior in my heart.  There was still something missing.  The heart was there, the activities were certainly not missing, the prayer before, during, and after was definitely present, but the connection to Christmas was kind of missing.

This year, we are trying something different, yet similar.  I wanted to try to remedy some of the disconnect from last year yet keep the activities, prayer, and heart.  So, this year we will follow a devotional as well as have service oriented activities.  Also, sometimes, we will be doing things that connect us as a family, as well as with the heart of God.  Some people might say these activities are "filling up our own cups".  Those people would be me, so I'm OK with that.  And that is exactly what we are doing.  Activities that refresh and renew so we are more excited and able to give and serve with a heart full of love.

So, this year, we are following Ann Voskamp's Jesse Tree Devotional.  I got it here, for free last year.  I love the idea of starting our journey in the Old Testament and rediscovering or maybe even seeing for the first time, how this baby in the manger, Jesus, was the plan all along.  I have been able to use some of her activities, as well as integrate some of our own, to match the heart of the devotional each day.  Just like last year, I'm not too concerned with photographing each and every day, nor getting to the blog each day to document.  It's just too overwhelming, and, if I'm honest, it sucks the joy out of the time I have with my family when I am too focused on documenting things "just so". 

Here's what we'll be up to this year:
November 29
Plant grass seeds for kindness.  Every time you do something kind, plant another seed.  On December 25th we’ll cut our grass and use it as straw for Jesus’s manger.
November 30
Write a letter to a friend.
December 1
Sing Christmas Carols together as a family. 
December 2
Go to the $1 store.  Hide dollar bills as an unexpected gift for someone to find.
December 3
Bring treats to someone you’ve never given treats to before.
December 4
Smile all day.  Look for 3 opportunities to make 3 different people laugh.
December 5
Write down 10 different ways that God has provided for you today.  Put your paper underneath our Jesse Tree.
December 6
Tape money and a note to vending machines/candy machines.
December 7
Leave a small gift along with our tip for our waitress or waiter.
December 8
Art Project: Engrave your names on the palms of His hands.
December 9
Fill up Hope House Stockings.
December 10
Collect carts and put them away in a parking lot.
December 11
Play with someone new at recess.
December 12
Put Christmas goodies in the mailbox for our mail person.
December 13
Light a candle and pray for family members who don’t know Jesus.
December 14
Put together a care package for a special family.
December 15
Encourage a friend.  Go to the Nutcracker at and watch a friend perform!
December 16
Pass out care packages to homeless people.
December 17
Give a treat and a special note of thanks and appreciation for your teacher.
December 18
Put together a care package for a special family.
December 19
Go through your toy room and donate your toys to a toy charity.
December 20
Surprise someone in our house with a special gift or service.
December 21
Repentance.  Turn on your lights on the Christmas tree in your room.  Spend some time with Jesus repenting.  Thank Him from turning your heart from darkness to light.
December 22
Take 10!  Spend 5 minutes in prayer and quiet with God.  Spend another 5 minutes doing something with someone else, giving them all of your attention.
December 23
Go on a carriage ride in the mountains.  Enjoy hot cocoa and time with your family!
December 24
No matter what the weather is today, go for a walk with your family and sing at least one Christmas carol.
December 25
Cut the grass that you have grown and make a soft place for Jesus in the manger.  Invite Christ into our home and to stay here all year long.

My prayer this year is that I (and my family) would draw nearer and nearer to the heart of God each and every day.  I want to anticipate, with the excitement of a child, each day as we get closer and closer to the day we celebrate the the birth of my Savior and King.  I want to barely be able to sleep at night on Christmas Eve because my heart is so full of joy and love it might burst.  I want to see this Christmas season with a fresh new set of eyes.  A set of eyes that doesn't care what the temperature is out side, or that isn't frenzied by enormous to-do lists.  Instead, I want my eyes to be firmly set upon the face of Jesus, my Lord, King, and Savior who came down from His heavenly throne, put on flesh, lived in our polluted world, and became"God with us".  So we could be with Him forever.

Just like He had always planned.

Family

Today, we celebrated Thanksgiving. 

Again.

This time the entire fam headed over to my mom's house to celebrate with my side of the family.

We were the last to arrive, and we walked into a home full of 20 people. 

TWENTY.

We were numbers 21-24.

Holy smokes.

It's no secret that I love a more intimate affair.

However,  how special is it that we have so many family members that choose to spend the day together?  Also, my ninety-five year old grandfather was there.  Ninety-five. 

Aunts, uncles, cousins, and even in-laws altogether. 

Laughing, talking, eating, celebrating, encouraging, and loving.

Today, I'm thankful for my extended family.  I am so thankful that we all keep in touch, and we all get along.  These days, that is rare and precious.

Traditions

I am a creature of habit.  I L-O-V-E traditions.  I can't get enough of the anticipation of doing the same things as a family year after year.  While they are the same things, they change.  Because we have changed.  So while it may seem repetitive, there's always something new to be discovered year after year.

One of my favorite traditions happens on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  After a small bit of time doing some Black Friday shopping, we spend the day ushering in Christmas.  Christmas decorating, Christmas music, and Christmas movies are on the menu for the day.  At the end of the day, we all snuggle in bed and watch Polar Express while sipping hot cocoa.  Since the kids are not normally allowed in our bed (I have issues with sharing my clean sheets with anyone other than The Hubs, and I've accepted that I'm totally weird), they find snuggling in our bed to be a bigger treat than the hot cocoa.

This year I wasn't feeling it.  Thanksgiving came a bit early this year, right?  Also, it's been super warm this year.  Whatever it is, I can't wrap my brain around the fact that in a few short weeks we will be celebrating Christmas.  (Do I say this every year?  I think so.  Weird.)

So, I declared we were going to put off Polar Express night for another night.  I thought my kids were going to have a heart attack.  Seriously.  You would have thought I was canceling Christmas all together. 

Today, I am thankful for kids who love tradition as much as I do because, even though they no longer fit our bed, it was super sweet to usher in this season, together, as a family. 

Turkey Day

Today is the day that the "Month of Thanks" was started for,  Thanksgiving day.   The kids and I headed over to the In-laws to enjoy turkey, potatoes, veggies, and let's get real, appetizers and desserts.  It was a small intimate affair, which is perfect in my opinion. 

After our feast was consumed, and thanksgivings for the year shared, The Hubs walked in after almost a full week away in Germany. 

So thankful to see his wonderful face again.

A Month of Thanks-Revisited

Last year, I spent the whole month of November blogging about things I was thankful for.  It proved to be much more eye-opening and heart transforming than what I thought it could be.  Turns out, when you think upon those things which are "Excellent and worthy of praise"  peace, trust, and joy fill your heart.  Crazy.

I have carried this with me through out the year, and have looked forward to making a concentrated effort not only to put this into practice again, but to also write about it.  Something about putting things down on paper (or in blog land, whatever) seems to really solidify things in my head as well as connect those learned things to my heart.

All that to say:  "It's BAAACK!"  All month, (God willing) I will be blogging about things in which I am thankful for.  In addition, I have made a small change.  I will also be trying to stretch my creativity by trying to Instagram it as well.  Hey, it worked for me this summer.  What can it hurt?  The kids are participating in "A Month of Thanks" as well.  They are filling out one leaf each night at dinner with one thing they were thankful for for that day. The leaves are then getting strung out garland style.  My hope is at the end of the month, and right before we start Advent season, we can look back at how blessed and loved we are.  With this reflection in mind, we can go into Advent season full and ready to give and love because we have been so abundantly provided for and loved first. 

So with that in mind, we have Day 1:

I am thankful for the bike ride I got to take today.  While on the path I was fully aware of the beauty that God gives us through Autumn.  I tried to soak in as much of the colors and mild weather as I could, knowing it would be over soon.

Later, I hit up the grocery store and I was thankful for not only the abundance of food we have in this country, but the variety. 

At any given time, I can go to this grocery store, either by foot or by car, and pick up anything my heart (and stomach) desires.  I do not have to worry about a shortage, or even if things are in season (as long as I want to pay the price for out of season produce).  It's there waiting for me each day.

How very blessed we are.

A Not So Spooky Night

This Halloween was a little different.  There wasn't as much build up or excitement.  I just wasn't that into it.  I can't say the kids were too hyped about it either.  At first this had no impact on me, then as the day got closer, I began to feel sad.  I was sad that maybe we were growing out of this holiday.  Not sure what caused this funk, but I'm blaming it on a few things.

First, the kids are a little bit older.  While free candy will draw even adults out to trick-or-treat (yes.  We had a mom come to our door.  With her child, but also with her own bag.  Weird.), getting all dressed up and tromping through the neighborhood sounded exhausting for some reason.  The novelty is definitely wearing off.  Secondly, we skipped the churches annual Fall Festival for the first time in the seven or eight years that we've been going to this church.  I had a photo session scheduled for that night, so we decided to skip the annual tradition this year.  Third, we didn't have costumes figured out.  The Little Man picked his costume out the year before at the Halloween clearance sale.  Somehow, that made me forget all about getting The Girl a costume.  Needless to say, she wouldn't have had a costume had it not been for school.  They were allowed to wear their costumes to school today for Halloween, and then had a little parade with some trunk or treating at the end of the day.  Well, there was no way she was going to miss that!  So at 7:00 the last night, we rushed to pick some supplies up for a costume.  So, you see, I'm just not into Halloween this year.

I did finally get my act together, and I'm glad I did.  As usual, the kids had a great time at school and trick-or-treating.  Here are some pics:

Some Instagram goodness of the kids carving pumpkins a couple of nights ago:

This year we let The Girl carve her own pumpkin.  She did great!

 My sweet girl as Missy Franklin in the school parade:

My boy as Jengo Fet...at least that's how I think you spell it.  It's a character from Star Wars:

Here they are the night before:

Missy Franklin showing off her medal:

This is Missy's "Seriously, I'm about to take the block" look.  It cracks me up:

Some Jengo Fett:

Can you tell The Little Man grew more than we had expected in the last year since we bought the costume?

He was so mad at me for making him take pictures before he could go trick-or-treating.  Can you tell?

Here, The Hubs, snuck up behind me and was trying to force a smile.  Can't you just hear him saying, "Come on, DAD!  Stop being so silly!"

 

So, not too spooky of a night.  Lots of candy and lots of smiles.  I'm so glad I got out of my funk, just in time!

Did You Know?

Did you know, since the last time I wrote:

• I've been abnormally and insanely busy.  Seriously, there are days that I clock in at about 5:00 am and don't clock out again until 10:00.  I have been busy volunteering at the kids' school for the most part.  That and taking pictures of other people's families.  People like to have that fall picture for their Christmas cards!  I do love seeing people and catching up with their families after a year since their last session.

• The Girl landed the role of The White Queen in the school's production of Through the Looking Glass.  It is the part that she wanted and she was over the moon with excitement when she found out.  She has done a really great job at learning all of her lines, and I've enjoyed running through her script with her on occasion.  Also, I might have been destined to be an acting coach.  I feel like I really rock at interpreting the mood and feelings of the White Queen, and then helping The Girl make adjustments where necessary.  So, I'm either going to be an acting coach or a professional bike rider when I grow up.  It's hard to say.

• The Little Man had four teeth pulled, two cavities filled, and three sealants all in one dental visit.  He did really well and recovered pretty quickly.  It was perfect that we had all of this done so close to Halloween because he truly looks like a walking Jack-o-lantern.  We recently had some family pictures taken, and The Little Man and I  had a small coaching session before hand, using a mirror, so we could make sure our smiles were right.  He did great.

• Our dog had a bladder infection. I don't want to discuss how the vet suggested we get a urine sample.

• On a recent field trip with The Little Man to Miller Farms, I collected so many potatoes, carrots, onions, and corn cobs that they couldn't fit in my fridge.  My master plan was that I would be making all of these veggies into a wonderful soup.  After making three soups and only using a third of the veggies, I gave up.  Well, technically, the veggies are still on my back deck.  It's been cold enough that I figured it would be just like they were in my fridge, right? I'm sure the potatoes are still good.  Eventually, I'll make potato chowder. 

• My nesting phase officially came to a screeching halt about 2.2 seconds after my last post.  Therefore, while we may be on Fall Break this week, there will be no painting of The Little Man's room.   He hasn't asked yet, so I think I'm in the clear.  The only problem is that I have hung the new curtains up (because the old ones literally fell off the wall), and they match the way the new room will look, not the current room.  Oh well.  No one goes upstairs anyway, right?

• The Little Man reached his goal of running 40 miles this season at run club.  True to The Little Man's competitive personality, as soon as he reached it, he wanted to know if I thought it was possible for him to reach 50 miles by the end of the week...I'm proud of him for reaching his goal.

• The Girl may be growing out of Halloween. We still haven't found a costume for her this year, and she isn't too concerned.  When we've gone out looking, she's totally uninterested in the options.  For right now, she is saying she'll just be whatever she was last year.  While I'd like to buy this, because it will save me serious cash, I just don't.  I go between feeling sad that she thinks she is too old for Halloween, and feeling like I'm being tricked.  I feel like when Halloween actually gets here, she's going to freak out about how she, "Can't be the same thing as I was last year, MOM!"  We shall see...

That's what has been going on in our tiny corner of the world!

Weekend Fun

This weekend we were so fortunate to be able to celebrate my grandpa's 95th birthday.  NINETY FIVE, people!  We joke around and call him Benjamin Button because, I swear, he is in reverse.  For example, he recently had knee surgery so he could get around better...at 93 years old.  While there are some people missing from this picture (Hello, my two sisters and missing nephew!), this is the majority of my side of the fam. 

Don't ask why I am making that face.  It might have to do with the fact that I was trying to figure out which of the 32 cameras were actually taking the picture...that or I was battling blindness from all the flashes.

In all total, my grandpa's friends and family took up close to 34 seats in the restaurant we celebrated in.  Chaotic, but special.

After all the grub and celebrations were done, we headed over to my sister's place to hang with them and let the kids play without fearing they would have hot food or drinks spilled all over the place.  While I am awesome at making sure my kids always have proper sun protection, bug spray is not my strength.  Unfortunately, we were out a little past dusk for a little too long.  My poor Little Man is paying the price now. 

Yes, he has his shirt on.  Yes, his back/legs/arms are just as bad.

He counted over 24 in all. 

Bug spray, bug spray, bug spray.  I must remember the bug spray. 

A Mid-Summer Va-Cay and a Near Drowning

Our little foursome hit the road for a bit of a mid-summer break get-away.  We were so excited to go, the night before we left, the kids and I sat out side waiting for The Hubs to return from his business trip.  Because I didn't calculate very well, we ended up hanging out on the drive way for over an hour.

Even Gracie could be found waiting for The Hubs:

 While we waited, we got a little bit silly:

It was a great night to spend an hour or so outside:

The next day, we packed it up and headed for the hills.  We were hoping that we remembered everything.  As usual, something always gets forgotten.  Do you think there is any room in there for my toothbrush?

From that point on, we were in "Mountain Mode".  The Hubs would like to bring "mountain activities" into our every day lives in the 'burbs.  I like that these activities are just a part of our Mountain Adventures.  It keeps everyone safe.

The Little Man and his cousin

The Girl and her cousin

We stuck with BB guns for the first day:

After a few rides into the forest with The Hubs driving, The Little Man refused to be a passenger any longer, claiming "Daddy is way too dangerous of a driver".  So they swapped places and all was good again.

The Girl was happy with her driver, though.  She remained a happy passenger.

Once in the forest, the kids ditched the BB guns and had some real target practice.  They both really enjoyed this and did pretty well for their first try.  (See what I mean about keeping "mountain activities" in the mountains!)

 Of course, there is always hiking in the mountains:

  And to wrap up our stay here, we were able to take in a beautiful sunset.

Once we were back home, it was straight to a 4th of July picnic.  We've been attending this same picnic with our church family for seven years in a row.  Just because we had been driving home from the mountains, still slightly dirty, and had no time to unpack or get ourselves put together did not mean we should miss it this year.  The sad (but necessary) part: no fireworks this year.  Almost all shows were canceled this year due to the extreme drought and the high fire danger our state is dealing with.   So, I had to settle for these two little firecrackers:

I'm good with that.

After so many days away,  I had to get serious about getting back into training mode for my upcoming triathlon.   With only a month to go, it was time to take my swimming skillz to open water.  The kids and I headed to a local reservoir, and I showed that reservoir who's boss.

OK.  I actually felt like I was going to die.  Reservoirs are like pools of ice compared to the neighborhood pool. Reservoirs have small under currents.  Reservoirs have smallish waves that slap you in the face as you turn to take a breath.  Lastly, reservoirs do not have clear water which leads to swimming several meters in the wrong direction without knowing. 

Boy, I do love the pool.

I will have to hit this reservoir a few more times before I will feel ready for the race.

As for the kids, they loved the sand, but complained the water was way too cold. 

Yea, I know what that's all about.

This is Getting Embarassing

Are you ready for another marathon "Update Post"?  You know, the kind that will get you all up-to-date on the goings on in our family for the past MONTH OR SO.  There's nothing better than flipping through a family album that doesn't belong to you, is there?

This is why the number of people reading my blog is so high.  I write about the riveting.  I share things that leave people begging for more.  It's who I am.  An overachiever, if you will.

With all that out of the way, hold on tight.  It's gonna' get wild.

First, The Little Man finished up a great season of basketball.  If they kept score at this age, I would definitely say they killed it this year.  For sure.  There's no doubt in my mind.

There he is with is trophy and new basketball.  I would post the little video clip that has his coach gushing over what a great kid my boy is, but that might be pushing the whole "gloating" thing a bit too far.

I can't afford to lose any more readers at this point.

Trust me.  He gushed over him and all of the other players.  Thankfully, I do have it on video for our own little keepsake.

We've also had a few chances to snuggle up with this sweet bundle of joy:

That's our sweet cousin C-Lee, at least that's what we call him.  While The Girl was so hoping for a little girl cousin, as you can see, she is thrilled to pieces over having a new baby cousin.   And did you see that picture of The Little Man?  Look who's grown out of his fear of babies!  That's my boy!  He's all growing up on me.

Also, starting back at the beginning of March, my kids joined a running club at school.  Honestly, I was SHOCKED that both of them even had an interest in doing it at all.  However, not only have they decided to do it, but they both have really liked it, and have excelled in it.  The idea is to accumulate 25.2 miles in a 10 week period.  At the end of that time frame, they will participate in a real marathon and complete their last mile (bringing them to a total of 26.2 miles) at the actual race, receiving a medal.  The kids are both pretty pumped up about being in a real marathon as well as receiving a real medal.  The incentives at 10, 15, 20, and 25 miles have also helped.  They run once a week at school and then have to run at least once a week at home.  Like I said, both kids really enjoy it, and I hardly ever have to even remind them to run.  They usually ask me to go for a run.  Ironically enough, they like the track at our neighborhood high school the best.  The one place I refused to run, is their most favorite.  I think it's because they feel like they are in control there.  Whatever it is, I don't care.  I am thankful to see them each doing something they like, and doing it well.

Here they both are at a recent run at their school.  

We've also been to a real bona fide play.  We had an opportunity to get tickets to see Beauty and the Beast at a fairly discounted rate.  Since The Girl's new passion is drama, I thought it would be beneficial for her to see a professional performance.  I am so happy we did!  We were all totally blown away by the performance.  Despite driving home at close to 10:30 at night on a school night, we all chatted and chatted away about our favorite parts, which character we liked best, the best song, and so on and so forth.  It was a magical evening.  My kids are both begging to go to more performances.  I don't think they realize that it's not just like heading out to the movies.  Tickets are pricey.  However, if another opportunity comes along for a great show, we're in!

Here we are waiting outside the theater:

On a funnier note, I thought it would be a great idea to have an "Indiana Jones Weekend".  They kids are into any type of series, books or movies.  I thought that maybe they would like the Indiana Jones trilogy (although, I was informed that there are actually four movies in that series).  Here's what that looked like:

Those movies might have been a little too intense.  Needless to say, we made it through only the first two. 

Then we battled the nightmares later that night.

Now we know were the line is.

During the second movie, we worked on this:

I thought it would take the edge off the movie if we had a little distraction in the form of a jigsaw puzzle.  It did, but still, we had nightmares.

We had a fabulous Spring Break this year.  The only thing that was bad was that it ended, way too soon.  Some of the kids in our area go to schools that have a two week Spring Break.  A lot of the parents complain about this. 

I can't understand it.

After having some fabulous weather, celebrating my birthday, hanging out with friends and family,  spending some time shopping, and then doing necessary chores in between, I was ready for that second week of break to just catch a break.  Sadly, it didn't come.  The kids returned to school and are now in the final stretch of their third grade and kindergarten year.  Trust me, they are already counting down the days until summer break.

And so am I.

Here they are enjoying some tube time in a fort they made:

Just this past weekend was Easter.  I am happy to say that we have officially gotten rid of the Easter Bunny.  I have been weaning the kids off of him for the last two years, and this year, he made no appearance, and was not missed.  Don't get me wrong, we still had candy, and the kids wanted to throw their own egg hunt.  However, I feel like the focus has finally shifted off of candy and gifts and onto a much bigger celebration, the resurrection of our Savior.  It felt good.

Over Spring Break, we made this resurrection garden as a craft one day. I had such high hopes for it.  I found the idea on Pintrest, and thought, "Well, we could make this the center of our devotion time for Easter."  It was going to be grand.  It was going to look like this:

 Here's ours:

 

 See, it had a great start.  It just didn't do anything more from this point on.  The wind blew it, it snowed, the wind blew it some more, and basically it was impossible to keep it watered enough to grow the grass.  So I decided to throw in the towel.

It's the thought that counts.

I didn't throw in the towel on Lent this year, however.  For the last forty days the Hubs and I gave up sweets.  Notice, I didn't say sugar.  I said sweets.  That meant no desserts or snacks that were sweet.  It meant I had to give up my one pump of toffee nut syrup at Starbucks as well as my nightly addiction to chocolate.  Sadly, it also meant we could not have our traditional family night of watching the Biggest Loser and eating homemade chocolate chip cookies.  The show just isn't the same without cookies.  Even worse, when the weather got so nice, it meant not going to our favorite frozen yogurt shop.

Guess what?  I didn't die.  Also, while there were times that I missed having dessert or partaking of a piece of chocolate, most of the time, I was calm, cool and collected.  It was nice to fast from this food group that had taken up way too much of me.   In fact, I don't think I will return to my toffee nut syrup at Starbucks or my nightly ritual of dessert.  Crazy, huh?  

Notice, I didn't say anything about giving up my chocolate chip cookies and Biggest Loser forever.

Not. Gonna. Happen.

How do you wrap up a post as random as this?  I'm not sure.  I think you just do.

You're all caught up!