Friday Foto

Tinkerbell and her Reggae Snowboarder Sidekick

Christmas Memories

My kids in jammies in front of the Christmas tree. A picture I'll always carry in my head.


The 2 hours we invested at Wally World for Woody, Buzz, and Jessie has paid off. They've been inseparable ever since.


The other favorite present this year has been their "Jump-O-Lene" from Justin and Kim. It's like a free babysitter. A babysitter we've stuck in the basement for a couple hours of peace and quiet a day! SCORE!


Please note that it was of their own free will that they chose to jump exclusively in their chonies. I did not require them to strip down to the bare minimum for the jump-o-lene.


Maybe fewer clothes creates less static?

Probably not...


Another favorite memory this year...
Overheard from Eden and her might-as-well-be-an-uncle Dale:

"Eden, what presents did Santa bring you?"
"Santa doesn't bring us presents. God, my mommy, and my daddy do."

She's one smart cookie.

Thanks, God, for sending us your Son. He's the best present ever!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of our amazing friends and family!

We pray His presence is very near to you this season.

We love you all!

photos taken by the oh-so-amazingly-talented Stancy Higley.

Thanks Stancy!

One Stop Shop

Eden is a ball of energy in the mornings. A ball of energy that talks and talks and talks and talks and barely stops to take a breath. It's like rapid fire sentences and questions.

Yesterday morning without me being able to interject any words, she said this...

"Mom. I think I want a baby sister too."
"Who makes baby sisters?"
"Does Target sell baby sisters?"

She's a smart cookie. She knows that if we were to purchase a child from any major department store, Target probably would be our choice of one stop shops.

I didn't really correct her.
Maybe I wasn't really sure of where to even begin with that.

But I'm pretty sure it was because I couldn't speak between the hysterical laughter.

Obedience

This blog is suffering.

It's the Woody of our Toy Story as Buzz Lightyear makes his debut. Sorry, our home has been all about Toy Story lately.

It's getting pushed to the side as we're getting more and more things that take priority over blog land.

Which isn't bad. The new things are good. Exciting. Life-changing.

But new things can cause suffering sometimes. And not just to blogs.

"For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant..."  Heb. 12:11

I knew moving to Texas and getting to spend so much time with our families might make it harder on us to leave when the time comes. I wouldn't trade this time with them though. It's been perfect. Wonderful. Eden biting her cousins and all. It's been family. It's been real, at the risk of sounding very high-schoolish. And we're enjoying it so much.

Obedience, though. Blast that obedience.

The discipline of obedience is hard for my 3 year old to understand.

It's hard for me to understand.

And right now, obedience seems painful. Unpleasant. Heart wrenching. Like an ice-pick to the chest, painful.

After completing some of the last steps for being approved for moving overseas with our company, we've heard that our date for moving is earlier than we were anticipating.

Our hearts were preparing for a June departure. Good ole summery June. We'd see Audrey graduate first grade. We'd each get to celebrate one more birthday with family.

We've been bumped up to March. Suddenly March seems very evil, despite being my birth month. It's the dreaded, March. Glaring at me with red eyes.

I wish I could look you square in the eyes, errr computer screen, whatever... and tell you that I'm completely holy, completely on-board with this idea of moving overseas, and completely and utterly looking forward to absolutely every moment of it.

I'm none of those things.

I'm completely terrified. Completely apprehensive about moving overseas. And a blubbering snotty mess when I dwell on it too much. (thus the two empty kleenex boxes that Salem klonks around in)

My flesh and my heart are completely at war within me.

Obedience.

My flesh screams out within me that being near family, swimming at Jeri's, raising my children 15 miles from their grandparents, Easter egg hunts at Granny's, and playing with cousins during playdates, is what is NORMAL. It's what's expected.

Satan tries to tell me that my children are going to be weird, unsocial, and estranged without experiencing these things. Or that by moving overseas they'll be "losing" their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.

He lies. He's the Father of Lies. Remember?

But I have to remind myself of that everyday. He whispers those things in my ear. Or occasionally he uses people to voice those lies to me. He's cunning. And sometimes my heart wants to believe him.

But my heart knows Truth. I know Who is Truth. And I know Who longs to instill Truth in my body, mind, and soul.

Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees.... Heb. 12:12


I do have confidence in one thing. The Lord. When our lives get turned upside-down when we move, He remains the same. The food will change. The language will change. Our kids will change. We'll change. Even our marriage will make changes.


But He, our Rock, is the same. Thank goodness. I can really use some stability.


And despite being a Professional B-Teamer, I know without doubt that moving overseas, apprehension and all, is what our family is supposed to do.

Obedience.

I wish that being obedient didn't cause such pain. I wish that obedience was easy and that I didn't constantly feel that tug of longing to be near family and allowing my children to grow up riding horses at my mom and dad's.

I wish that writing all this didn't cause my keyboard to get wet from these blasted tears.

I wish it didn't cause our family pain.

I wish obedience came without suffering. I wish it always seemed pleasant.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Heb. 12:11


I wish I wasn't so hard headed and could see through to the peaceful fruit that will come with the obedience of moving overseas.

I want to have faith that is strong enough to move mountains. But right now my faith seems barely enough to move our family.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Ps. 73:26


I repeat this verse over and over and over in my head throughout the day.

When Satan whispers his lies.

When I think about March.

When my heart fails.

I have to say it over and over and over because I'm stubborn like that. Hard-headed. Oh me of little faith.

I'm struggling with it all.

Just being open and honest here. And using my blog to vent it all.

So this blog my suffer for awhile. I may suffer through my blog. You may get tired of my whining. My complaining. My small faith.

Lord, I pray that your overwhelming peace will take root in my heart. That it will push out all the selfish desires to be "normal." To be near family.
Help me to have a joyful obedience. A trusting obedience that Your peaceful fruit of righteousness is enough...is better.

Friday Foto

Budding Artist

I've never been a very good colorer.

I know that sounds retarded.

But you know how in 6th grade everything is a contest between all your girlfriends? Well I was always the bad colorer.

Plus it's one of those things that kinda bugs me. I don't like how the colors actually leave different colored streaks where it's supposed to be one solid color. I'm weird like that. So, I'd just prefer to steer clear of coloring altogether. It's easier on my psyche that way.

Problem is, I have a three old. Who now apparently is completely in to coloring.

So I went along with it the other day. Got out one of her GIANT princess coloring pages. (that's GIANT piece of paper...not GIANT princess...though that would be funny...)
She went to town on it.


I tried to color with her on it, but she's like her mama and didn't want any help.

So I tore out my own little coloring page and set to work on Elmo. Staying in the lines. Nice, pretty, smooth, mostly streak free Elmo.
I finished my OCD Elmo, and showed Eden.
And then she showed me that I was indeed not finished and promptly helped me complete my artistic masterpiece.


Then she finished her masterpiece once every square inch of that giant piece of paper was covered in waxy crayon residue.


She was so proud of it, she asked to hang it up in her room. She wanted it hung on the back of her door though. weird. but whatever.

So while we were discovering the world of art, we got out some of her other stuff she's done over the past few weeks.

And a brilliant idea hit me.

I should try selling this stuff!!

I mean, if people think Picasso's stuff is worth money:

source

Then surely people would pay big bucks for this stuff too...

Eden's Rope-Armed Ball-People is clearly no less genius than the Double-Nosed Cross-Eyed Lady.


Well and then there's her inborn watercolor skills...



That clearly could go head to head with Drippy Paint stuff that manages to be labeled as "art."

source

I know, I know. Those of you art fanatics who used to be my friends (or my sister :) and I totally just crushed your soul, I should apologize to you. Yes, I probably should.  :)

Buuuuuuut, my opinion remains the same on most art. 

At the rate Eden is going with her art, I think I've struck gold!! It should have hit me sooner really, since artistry runs in her blood.  I need to act quick though before she out grows the preschool age, and begins to be able to draw real things. Because apparently the preschool age look, at least when it comes to paintings, is what sells!