The Luces

will I ever blog again?

2011-11-22T07:15:00.003-06:00

The neglect around these parts it astounding. Has a little blog ever been so discarded by it's proprietor? Yes, I'm sure it is probably a very common fate for many the unfortunate blog, and I'm sad to have to put myself in the bad blogger column, maybe forever.

I would love to keep a chronicle of our life, the ups and downs and everyday-ness of it, but evidently I don't want to as much as I want to pick up a book, or watch basketball, or work on a project, etc., ect, because those are the things I inevitably do.

Ah well. If I am taking the time, I want to say in fast forward what has been going on. Graham is almost ONE. He is amazing. Funny, sweet, playful, hungry and adventurous. Adrienne and Marianna are busy bees, loving their brother, gymnastics, school, church, and playing. Nathan and are daily throwing around ideas for our upcoming (still 6 months away, but yes, upcoming) 10th anniversary. Today's look: Costa Rica. Seems risky though. If we don't like it, we are pretty much stuck. On the other hand, what's not to like?

There we are in a nutshell. I can't wait for Thanksgiving. I'm already excited about Christmas. Life is busy, full, and very, very filled with amazing and undeserved blessings from Jesus.

And of course, a quick picture collage of the kids:

Christmas in the Valley 2011

2011-11-08T07:06:00.002-06:00

That's right... it's that time again! For all my Memphis area friends, I really hope you're able to make it out to my mom's annual Christmas craft fair extravaganza... Christmas in the Valley! It will be on November 19 from 10-3, and it is completely open to the public! So, brings you friends and family and come out for a fun-filled day of shopping! There will be about 20 vendors, and they'll all be offering incredible one day only discounts! Check out the website for more details, and don't forget to go enter the giveaway!

c in the v flyer 2011

Twins?

2011-05-30T07:42:00.005-05:00

Graham at 5.5 months

Marianna at 5.5 months

What do you think? I think it's wild. My two identical twins 5 years apart.

Happiness

2011-05-29T22:52:00.002-05:00

this boy serves it up every day!

What's for dinner?

2011-05-27T16:03:00.003-05:00

Lately, my answer to this very often asked question usually comes from my gold mine of a recipe go to place: allrecipes.com.

I know there are a bunch of different recipe websites out there, but this one has been the perfect fit for me. For starters, it has a recipe for just about whatever I can think of, so if I want to get a recipe for something specific, it's easy. I also love the reviews. I rarely ever make a dish just as it is written, since I find so many great suggestions from the people who have already forged that new territory before me. I've also been impressed by how many great meal ideas I've found by searching around on the website.

Since I started using allrecipes.com frequently, it has become my goal to try at least one new recipe a week. That doesn't sound impressive at all, and it's not, but it is definitely breaking ground for me. I have had a set of staple recipes that I have run into the ground over the past nine years, and since I'm nothing like my creative, food wizard of a sister-in-law, it was a rarity to try something new. But this makes it easy for me, and since it has been easy, I've done it. And after doing it, I've found that it is really fun to try something new on a weekly basis! For a non culinary expert like myself, it has made meals something exciting and worth the wait. If you have been in the same boat as me, try it out! I don't think you will be disappointed.

odds and ends

2011-05-26T16:16:00.002-05:00

Last night I found that Marianna had taped a piece of paper around a cross I have on the kitchen counter. I went for a closer look and found she had written "King of the Jews".

Today I went to went to the movie theatre with all three kids. There were moments when I felt like I had bitten off a little more than I could chew, but really overall, it was fine. I can't tell you the entire plot of Kung Fu Panda 2, but I got enough to think it was a pretty cute sequel.

Tonight I'm running in my first race in almost two years. Yikes! I don't know how much "zoom" there will be in my "zoom through the zoo" but I think it should be fun.

Today this is what Nathan discovered when he got out of his car at work.

I really got a kick out of that.

A day of Celebration

2011-05-25T07:16:00.003-05:00

May 24th was a big day in the Luce house for two big reasons. First of all, May 24th is our anniversary, and yesterday we celebrated nine years of sharing life together. Isn't that crazy?! I just turned 29 last week, so it seems wild that we've already been married almost a decade. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I am so grateful for the man I am married to. He is really, truly an amazing person. He is a man who loves God and his family above everything else, and I cannot imagine life without him. Being married to a person like him for nine years is definitely a reason to celebrate!

As if that were not enough, yesterday also brought to completion a LONG awaited home improvement project in our flower beds. Last year I began losing the battle against bermuda that I had been fighting ever since we built our house back in 2003. It was so entrenched in our beds, that it eventually became more effective to use the weed whacker than gardening gloves. It was demoralizing, and eventually, I threw in the towel. By fall, I had given the bed over to the bermuda, hopeless and discouraged. This spring, things got worse than ever. Several plants died; the grass grass continued to thrive. It was a bad scene. Nathan saw my despair and decided the best plan of attack was a total re-haul of the flower beds. We decided to build a stone wall to give a more formidable barrier between the bermuda and the beds, before we took out all the dirt, all the plants, and started with a clean slate.

The wall construction has been going on over the past few weeks, and finally yesterday we activated the final stage, digging out the old dirt, adding the new, and incorporating brand new plants in our landscaping. It was a beautiful thing.

Nathan and I celebrated both events by going out to dinner at a place we had never been and trying out dishes we had never tasted. My moussaka (grilled eggplant layered with meet and something fluffy) was incredible!! Definitely a day of celebration all the way around.

really, really weird

2011-05-20T07:53:00.003-05:00

Last night I went out with some other girls for birthday dessert, so Nathan put the kids down for bed. It hit me at about 11:45, right when I was just about to turn out the light, that I hadn't gone up to see the girls or Graham. It felt weird not kissing them and tucking them in, so I went up and tiptoed in their rooms and saw all three sleeping as peacefully as three little gooselings. All was well, so I went back down to my room and fell promptly to sleep.

A little over an hour later, we (and I really mean me, because Nathan hears nothing in his sleep) were awakened by a very loud pounding on our door. Adrienne. The knock is a dead give away, because for some reason she won't just open the door and come in. We have to get up and open it. Nathan almost always handles nighttime incidents because it doesn't really wake him up. As soon as his head hits the pillow, he is back out. So he took her up, and I began the try to sleep process once again.

I'm just drifting off when I get that weird sense that there are a few extra bodies in the room. I open my eyes, and standing just a foot from my head are both girls. Marianna says, in a voice way too alert for the hour, "We aren't tired, Mom. And we're thirsty." I get up, get the drink, deposit them back in bed, and stumble back downstairs, not feeling very good at all about the scenario that is brewing. First, I've never seen them both up at the same time at night. Second, if either of them ever happens to wake up, they usually look as sleepy and disoriented as I do. Third, if a child ever gets up, they never get up twice. So things just weren't looking good.

I go back to bed, unable to sleep because I'm listening for the telltale creak on the stairs that would signal a return to our bedroom. After 15 minutes of silence, I let out a big breath, pray a little thank you, and begin trying to relax and sleep once again. This time after I've been asleep 15 minutes or so, I heart a series of far away sounding thuds. That was enough to startle me into instant alert because nothing about those sounds was typical of two little girls coming downstairs again. This time I'm up for awhile, listening intently, trying to decide whether to wake Nathan up, until finally, I decide I must have dreamed it, and I try to sleep again.

45 minutes later, I hear giggles next to my head. I open my eyes, and two big eyed girls are smiling down at me. "What are y'all doing!?" I asked, stunned.

"We just finished our movie!"

"WHAT?!" I look at the clock, and sure enough, it's now nearly 4:00 am.

I can't remember the rest of that conversation, but I do remember the distinct impression that Marianna felt like she was describing the most natural thing in the world. Almost like, "Well of course we were watching a movie. We weren't sleepy. What did you expect?"

Nathan was still sleeping, oblivious that anyone had ever woken up again after the initial Adrienne incident, and I felt unequal to handling it any other way than to put them on the floor, one on each side of the room, and tuck them in. Both tried to carry on conversations, and both were swiftly cut off. They are still sleeping now, but I look forward to asking some more probing questions after they get up.

Maybe I should stop being surprised by weird, but I kind of doubt I ever will ;)

Let the Homeschooling Adventure Begin!

2011-05-18T16:27:00.003-05:00

Marianna and I are just about to come to the end of our first "school year." Back in August I decided we would start a very loose, very flexible school schedule. She was four when we started, too young to officially be in Kindergarten, but she is a fantastic student and loves to learn so I didn't see any reason to wait. I ordered the Kindergarten curriculum from A Beka Books, and we began working through that at our own pace.

By Christmas, we had pretty much wrapped up all of the K-5 books, so I went ahead and ordered some of the first grade materials, and Marianna has been working her way through those this second semester, completing about 1/3 or her books. She has a passion for reading, a girl after my own heart, and a great love for science, a girl after her daddy's heart as well. We are just about to bring our psuedo school year to a close, but I am already beginning to gear up in earnest for our first real homeschooling year.

Now that is getting close to being official, I'm feeling the pressure of making sure I get her started on the right foot. I love to teach, but I know very little about what is out there and available as far as home school curriculums are concerned. I need to decide fairly soon, but before I order strictly A Beka again, I thought I would see if anyone had any insight into a good program for reading, history, science, math or Bible. I am all ears!

non-verbal communication

2011-05-17T08:19:00.003-05:00

Who needs it? Not Graham. He and his sisters tired of that about one week after he was born, so I graciously stepped in to help them out. Graham needed a voice, and I provided it.

It might surprise you to know that Graham is quite the talker indeed. He talks to the girls all day long, and it's getting him to stop that is sometimes the trouble. He tells them what he wants and what he doesn't want. He isn't afraid to ask them for their help with getting him diapers and burp cloths and new clothes. He tells them story and sings silly songs, and he entertains with his antics and jokes. There's pretty much not anything he won't say.

Every once in awhile Graham will wake up and forget to greet the girls, or heaven forbid, sometimes I answer a question directed solely at him. The girls are quick to correct me. After all, it's not me they are wanting to hear from. They want to speak to their brother. And who can blame them? Graham is a charmer, no doubt about it.

The only place Graham seems to be shy is in public, where he typically either whispers or defers conversation to me. Just one of his little quirks I suppose. Marianna and Adrienne are usually understanding of this one shy tendency. Usually.

No, we really can't imagine Graham using strictly non-verbal communication skills around here. He simply has too much to say to wait til he's one!

The Contentment Killer

2011-05-16T07:15:00.002-05:00

Today is my birthday. I guess all the kids remembered, because they are starting out the day by sleeping in. What a nice present! That sleeping in has given me time this morning to sit quietly, drink my chai, and think.

As I've been pondering, it has occurred to me that I have all to often fallen victim to what I will call The Curse of the Birthday (and Other Big Holidays). What is it? Expectation.

It is such a killer. Believe me, I know. I have been the road kill far to often to be able to deny it. When it comes down to it, expectation, whether on a particular day, or toward a particular person, or in a particular situation, is almost always going to end in disappointment. The whole basis of expectation is faulty, so there is no way I can ever expect to build something on top of it, and it stand.

Almost always, expectation is self-focused. It does not spring from love, but from a desire to get what I want. It is the ultimate all-about-me game, and if it is not met, then it usually results in another all-about-me activity, self pity. And self pity is a dangerous thing indeed. It breeds dissatisfaction, and dissatisfaction can mutate into a whole host of ugly things.

Expectation can cripple a marriage, frustrate a parent, and ruin a friendship. It can do so much damage, yet it is so preventable! In so many areas I have learned this the hard way. I have failed at this again, and again, and again. But God is the God who forgives us again, and again, and again. That is something I can expect. I can also expect His help to erase those expectations when I ask Him. And that's really what it comes down to. Asking. Expecting God to help us to find our contentment in Him and not in our expectations of others.

It is in Him, and only Him, that we find our Freedom.

Oh, boy!

2011-05-15T14:33:00.003-05:00

Graham, welcome to the world of solids. You love to eat, so this should be a match made in heaven. Believe me when I say, it only gets better from here as most would agree that rice cereal is bottom rung on the taste ladder. Maybe the biggest adventure of all will be your sisters trying to feed you. That will be new territory for us all.

The Party Must Go On

2011-05-14T21:28:00.002-05:00

Today was party day for one pint sized three year old. Come Splish, Come Spash! was the first line of Adrienne's birthday party invitation, but if you live in Memphis, you know that the weather wasn't cooperating with the theme. At least one person showed up to the party in a puffer vest, and there were coats and long sleeves all around.

Fortunately the weather man gave me a heads up, so we were able to switch gears earlier in the week and plan accordingly. The water balloons, sprinklers, and super soakers were all stowed away, and instead we celebrated with balloons, hoola hoops, bocce ball, and other equally dry activities. Adrienne loved it, water or no, so we will call it a success and wait a few more weeks yet before we take a dip.

Snake on the Sidewalk

2011-05-13T15:01:00.002-05:00

Last night I went out for my run around 7:45, and I planned on winding up right as the sun went down. It was a beautiful night, and with my music up high, the three miles ticked by without event until I got to the homestretch. I was almost insight of my car when my paranoid radar kicked into high gear. Behind me a large red pick up was slowly driving through the neighborhood, so slowly that it was not gaining on me at all. That always strikes me as suspicious, so I began to run at a sprint to cover the short distance remaining. At the same time, I kept looking behind me, hoping the truck would turn into a driveway. I turned my head back to the front, still running full speed, and looked down just in time to avoid stepping on a huge snake that was lying on the sidewalk.

My foot was literally less than two feet away from the two-inch thick body when I registered what was about to happen. I screamed and jumped to the left, and the snake lurched and slithered off to the right. It was horrifying. I have never come so close to stepping on a snake. The snake wasn’t even hiding, but since I hadn’t been looking, I had almost stepped on it anyway. It was a close call.

When my heart rate decelerated enough to think clearly, I was struck by the illustration I had just experienced. You see right before leaving to go on my run, I had been watching the American Idol results show. I’ve hardly watched any of this season, but if I am home and I think about it, I usually turn it on. As I was lacing my shoes, I glanced up to see Lady Gaga's performance filling the screen. I know she has a reputation for doing all that is shocking and outlandish, but last night as I watched her banging on the piano in nothing but her underwear, I felt sick in the pit of my stomach.

The unrest stirred inside of me as I realized that the most main stream show in America, a show targeting a family audience including young children and preteens, was funneling a lewd, demeaning, and immodest message to everyone watching. Under the guise of "entertainment" the young performer was chipping away at the moral center of our culture. She was making a performance in her underwear seem okay, okay enough to be on the most popular show on broadcast t.v.

You might think I'm getting a little too worked up about it. After all, she's a singer. Her currency is shock value, right?

But I think that's what bothers me the most. The danger is no longer the snake in the grass. It's not hiding on porn sites on the internet, or behind closed doors, or on the cable channels. It's the snake on the sidewalk. It's right there in front of us, but if we're not paying attention, we just might step on it anyway. I don't want to be lulled into thinking the danger isn't all around us. I don't want to be tricked into thinking it's okay because it is "entertainment." A snake is a snake, no matter what we call it. I think we all need to keep our eyes open, and our hearts tender to God's spirit. Our children need us to protect them, and to teach them to recognize the snake, hiding in the grass and out in the open.

Donuts for Breakfast

2011-05-12T08:19:00.000-05:00

I made the mistake of taking Adrienne to the grocery store with me the other day on her birthday. As a result, pink yogurt pretzels, Pringles, Danininos, and Krispy Kreme powdered donuts all made an unexpected appearance in the cart. Am I weak? Well, it was her birthday after all, and it's not like any of those things were poison ;) Just not the normal grocery store staples.

What I didn't realize while we were in the store was just how many of those powdered donuts are in one of those Krispy Kreme bags. The daunting number of those powdered minis has left me with quite a cunundrum. I don't want them, and Nathan is cutting back on sugar, which leaves two little girls to tackle the whole bag by themselves. I'm not sure about the shelf life, but I'm guessing it's not in the 1 donut a day range. I hate for them to go bad which would mean we were wasteful, but I'm also not fond of the alternative, namely sugar injected wild women.

After very briefly thinking it over (because, in reality, I'm not losing sleep over this), I've decided on giving each girl two of the mini donuts for breakfast for the next few days. This morning I presented Adrienne with her plate, and was met with a pair of rather incredulous eyes. She looked up at me and said, "But Mom, I want SO many." It appears that Adrienne had been doing some calculations of her own and my math wasn't adding up. I guess now that she's three I won't be pulling any fast ones by her.

vacation is spelled B-E-A-C-H

2011-05-11T07:36:00.004-05:00

B is for Being gone from the Dogs

Those dogs of ours, Chum and Marlee, have become increasingly burdonsome with each child we have added to the family. Before children, they were our children. That time was so long ago I can hardly write the words without smirking. I took Marlee to the vet the other day and some of the paperwork spoke of me as Marlee's mother. I laughed right there, out loud, in the vet's office. No, I certainly don't feel that way about them anymore. They eat the girls' food, they shred diapers, they track in mud and grass, smells abound, they are grumpy, they bolt when the door opens and bark during nap time (and all other times) and all around remind me that while I used to consider myself a dog person, I now consider myself a child person, and for me, there is no merging of the two ;) So being gone from them for a week was vacation all in itself.

E is for Eating some really great food

We did a combo of eating out and in while we were gone on our beach excursion, and what it all had in common was deliciousness. I think the beach universally makes people hungry, or at least I hope I am not alone in feeling the need for double portions after a beautiful day on the beach. We had steak, sea food, and pasta, and boy was it good!

A is for Airing out by the Seashore

One of my favorite parts of the beach day after day is simply sitting next to the ocean, letting the breeze wash over me again and again. I felt like my house on one of those first days of spring when it is finally warm enough to open up a window and let the fresh air pour into the rooms, stuffy after a long winter. I am now thoroughly aired and all the better for it!

C is for Catching the Waves

I am an ocean girl. Not a pool girl. Meaning that while I'm at the beach, I don't want to be sitting up by the pool. I want to be in the ocean! Marianna and Nathan share a similar passion, and all of us agreed that one of the best things about vacation is catching the waves. We don't surf, but we do a whole lot of wave jumping and wave floating and wave crashing.

H is for Having fun with the fam

No matter what we were doing, the beach was the perfect backdrop for having fun with each other. It was the first laid back vacation we have taken in a long, long time, and it was amazing!

Sunshine is She

2011-05-10T07:17:00.004-05:00

Dear Adrienne,

May 10th is a very special reminder to me that God knows more than I do. It reminds me that His understanding is complete, where as mine is not even formed. It is the most beautiful reminder that His plan is more amazing than anything I could ever conjecture. I will tell you why May 10th is such a good reminder. Three years ago today on May 10th, I can't tell you what I was doing. In fact, I have no memory of the day whatsoever. That's why it makes me smile up at Heaven when I think how May 10th, 2008 was a day that was changing my life forever, and I didn't even know it.

You know why May 10th is so special. It is your birthday. You are three years old today, marking three amazing years that God has allowed your sunshine to light up our lives. I hope you believe me when I say this: nothing could have prepared me for how amazing you are. Your dad and I love you more than we can get our heads around, and even though we are partial, I think it is fair to say that everyone who meets you loves you too.

You really are like the sunshine. You draw people with your charm, your quirkiness, and your love. You entertain me every single day with all your funny ways and expressions. You love to sing at the top of your lungs, and you love to stand up in front of the fire place mantle and do "shows" where you barely sing above a whisper for dramatic effect. You eat like a bird, but can pack away more chocolate and candy than an elephant at a circus. You are a morning person, and I like that. You have an independent streak that is something fierce and you are as cuddly as the lovie you sleep with every night. You are a hall monitor when it comes to regulating the behavior of others. You are a lover of Tangled, the bath, shoes, the trampoline, and your brother and sister.

You are special. That sums it all up. I love you more than all these words can describe, and I will always be so grateful for that May 10th 3 years ago, unaware as I was, that you came into this world and into our home three weeks later. I will never stop thanking God for the gift of Adrienne.

the culprit

2011-01-30T21:45:00.004-06:00

What has been keeping me from blogging? I guess the better question might be, what hasn't? But, just for fun, I'll go ahead and name the top 5.

5. My Nook. I got it at the end of December, and I am an ADDICT. I have read more in the past four weeks than the entire time I was pregnant. And unfortunately, I probably had more time for it then. I was hesitant about leaving the physical paper and ink behind, but it took roughly five minutes before I was sold. Having any book I want at the touch of my fingers has proved a little too tempting. I'm now seeking balance =).

4. SICKNESS! I don't know what has been going on around here, but we have paid more co-pays to the doctor in January than we did all last year. Graham has had RSV, we both go pink eye, and I came down most recently with a freakish fever virus. Nothing has been serious, praise God, but it has slowed us down, no doubt about it!

3. Tiger Basketball. 2 games a week. Every week =)

2. Not nearly as much as I hope to admit in the coming weeks, but exercise is very slowly working it's way back into my reality. It is nice to feel normal again, a big part of which includes the ability to move at more than a recreational pace! I have decided to join a gym with my sister so that we can take aerobic classes in the mornings, and then, once the weather gets a little better, back to the pavement I will go.

1. 2 girls and a boy (really 2 boys. Nathan wouldn't want to be left out ;) ). This has been the biggest and most welcome culprit. I love the extra time that is dedicated every day to our newest addition, and I love that somehow, there is still time for everyone else too! Maybe we're not a slick oiled machine. Maybe we'll never be, but it works. We are learning how to play, rest, run errands, and live life as a family of 5, and so far, we've found that it's hard and wonderful. I'm pretty sure that's not going to change.

a long overdue (no pun intended) update!

2010-12-21T14:24:00.005-06:00

Shame on me for not writing sooner! Graham is here, he is 11 days old, and he is absolutely perfect in every way! I have no excuses on the update, other than I have been soaking up my little boy and the rest of my family, loving every second of it. God has been so good to us over the past two weeks. After two prior hospital experiences that were filled with grieving, first over the loss of my grandfather and second with Poppy, a hospital stay with no shadow of grief to hang over it was amazing. Nathan and I could hardly absorb how different the circumstances were this time, but we drank it in and enjoyed it for the blessing it was.

The c-section was flawless, and 10 minutes into the surgery, the most beautiful, squalling baby boy was born, weighing 6 lbs 11 oz. Our time with him since then has been just as flawless. My recovery has been the easiest so far, and that is saying a lot because I am blessed with unbelievably easy recoveries. Today I feel like I never had a baby, which to me is totally miraculous considering I was undergoing major surgery 11 days ago! And Graham could not be any sweeter or more captivating. I am in love. Of course it was the exact same before with my first three, but once again I have been bowed over by the force with which a new baby captures my heart. I don't think it is possible to get enough of his face or his smell or the softness of his baby skin. There is nothing like it.

Since we've been home, Graham has spent the great majority of his time sleeping and cuddling. He wakes up once during the night to eat, and then he is back out like a light. Certainly no complaints from his mama there! His daddy couldn't be any prouder if he wanted to, and his sisters are pretty smitten themselves. Both girls have transitioned beautifully, a few hiccups notwithstanding, and are loving the newest addition to our family. I'll share a few pictures with you from the past two weeks, and then I'll try and be better about not falling off the face of the earth over the next few weeks =)

Countdown to Graham: 2 Days and on the mend

2010-12-08T09:37:00.002-06:00

When I woke up this morning, the first two things that popped into my head were as follows: 1) this is the day my doctor was going to deliver me up until about two weeks ago, 2) I really wish he hadn't changed his mind!

Sleep is something that is beginning to evade me, and my back feels more like it is 80 than 28. I just got off the phone with Nathan, and he suggested maybe I should sleep on the floor tonight to see if that worked better. Since this was spoken out of genuine concern and with hopes it might really work, all I could do was laugh. I think the only solution is delivering this baby, but it's sweet of him to try and brainstorm.

On the bright side, things are looking up with all of our health ailments. Adrienne is cured, no one else is showing symptoms of the stomach bug, and Nathan has an antibiotic for his pink eye that has cleared it right up. Both girls did wake up with tell tale signs of pink eye themselves, but an antibiotic for them is waiting on us at Walgreens, so again, I'm hoping this will all be behind us by Friday.

Friday. Oh my goodness. I have no idea what to expect. I have had babies two times before, but with the dramatically different circumstances, it makes me feel like this is all new. I am thrilled, very excited, a little bit nervous, and overwhelmed with gratitude. I can't wait to meet our first son. I can't wait for Marianna and Adrienne to have the experience of a little brother. I can't wait to have the privilege once again to raise a child. It is an amazing thing. Thank you God for the opportunity, and help me not to waste it!

Countdown to Graham: 3 Days and some hiccups

2010-12-07T07:34:00.002-06:00

Since I wrote yesterday morning, Adrienne has come down with the stomach virus and Nathan woke up with pink eye. Neither of those things bodes well for a three day countdown, but I'm trying not to get worked up about it. It is out of our control of course, but certainly not out of God's. Nathan and I both are doing lots of praying that neither the pink eye or the stomach virus spreads to anyone else so that hopefully by Friday, everyone will be in the clear!

These new developments have changed today's plans into a stay at home day, but maybe the forced grounding will be good for us. Here's to recovery Tuesday!

Countdown to Graham: 4 Days

2010-12-06T09:24:00.002-06:00

We are going in to the hospital for a planned c-section this Friday at 7:30, so after a few weeks of wondering when, we are finally in the last days of the countdown! As I was thinking about the four days we have until his birthday, I realized I wanted to spend them intentionally. Not to say that I want to plan every second of every day, or even that I need to have many plans at all. But I do want to spend them, not just looking forward to Friday, but celebrating the last days I have with Marianna and Adrienne as my two girls, before we transition to two girls and a boy.

I know that baby time always throws a little tumult into any family dynamics, so I want to do everything I can this week to focus on how special each girl is to this family. It may be impossible to completely eliminate insecurities on their part, but as much as I can I want to show them how the baby in no way eclipses their role in this family, but instead, it enhances it. I'm not sure exactly what we'll do, but whatever it is, I hope it all works toward that goal.

In the meantime, there are some practical details to attend to. I would love for Christmas presents to be wrapped and under the tree, a final grocery trip to be made, work stuff needs to be completed, Marianna has practice almost every night for the Christmas program this weekend, and we would love to squeeze in a play date too. It will be busy, and normal, and completely unlike my past experiences leading up to a baby.

Gearing up for Graham without any known crisis on the horizon is uncharted waters for us. I am so grateful for that, but I also feel strangely less prepared. More on that tomorrow. For now, happy Monday! Enjoy the cold weather and the Christmas feel all around!

Birthday Girl

2010-11-18T16:42:00.004-06:00

Sunday was Marianna's 5th birthday. I couldn't be more proud of my oldest girl, who is growing up right in front of my eyes. She is kind, funny, passionate, creative, competitive, smart, and sensitive. She is my companion, day in and day out. She is the one who love to cuddle, loves to read, loves to spend time alone and with people, loves her sister, and already loves her new brother. She is my heart.

I just took a walk down memory lane and pulled out pictures from all of her birthdays. Time has flown by, but it has been so sweet!

Five for Five: remembering Papa

2010-11-15T15:48:00.002-06:00

Five years ago today is a day I will never forget. Marianna was about 12 hours old when my mom and dad came into our hospital room in the middle of the night to tell us that Papa was with Jesus. Hours before I had sent my video camera with my family to show Papa his first great grandchild, knowing he would never see her with his own eyes this side of heaven. On November 15th, in the middle of overflowing joy for my new baby girl, I wept and grieved for the loss of a man who had filled a bigger spot in my life than it seems possible that any one person could do.

But he was my Papa, and nothing about him was ordinary. Today, 5 years later, I want to share some of my favorite memories.

1. Game time. Nobody was more fun than Papa. He loved a good game, be it Monopoly, hangman, or football, more than anyone I know. I remember so many evenings sitting around my grandparents little glass breakfast table, with a monopoly board on the table, watching Papa's eyes gleam with competitive anticipation of another victory at hand. He was cut throat, always sitting on his money to keep everyone in the dark on how he was doing. It was always pure joy for both of us.

2. El Chico's. Really, that could be expanded to dinners out of all kinds, but El Chico's was definitely our favorite. I don't know how many happy nights I have spent with Papa and Grammy at that old mexican restaurant, but I know I always wish I could have just one more. So many birthdays, special occasions, and no occasions at all were spent there, it was as comfortable as home. El Chico's has closed its doors, but that's okay. It was never the same with out him anyway.

3. Holidays. I think maybe we feel his absence here the most. He was so central to the celebrating, to the joy, to the excitement. I am so grateful for 25 years of Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter memories spent with him, as he led in the fun, praise and thanksgiving of the seasons.

4. Preaching. He was the very best. How will I ever know the impact those sermons have had on my life? God used Papa in a powerful way to shape me into who I am today. I am so grateful!

5. Stories. Nobody could tell a story or a joke like Papa. He could make me cry or laugh at the drop of the hat as he told a story, the way the story was meant to be told, or maybe even a little bit better. He was a master, and it's because of that I can recall so many of them today. I love to tell a good story myself, but to have a talent like that would be something indeed.

Remembering often makes me cry, but even more often makes me smile. The blessing of having him in my life is something I will always be grateful for. He continues to live in our hearts until we see him again in heaven.

sweetness, of all varieties

2010-11-09T20:17:00.003-06:00

There has been so much sweetness around these parts lately, I can hardly stand it =). I thought I would share some of it with you.

* I think these four cousins dressed up is sweetness itself. Dorothy and the Lion are posing with Tink, and the barely pictured but unbelievably cute, Peter Pan.

* Planning ahead for next year, I went ahead and bought costumes for Nathan and me (the first time ever). What is sweet about that? The fact that they were 90% off! $3.00 apiece for these dynamic Spaghetti and Meatball costumes.

* Today Marianna and I made a baby chain with 30 links, one for every day remaining until Graham's birthday! I got the idea from MckMama, and I thought the girls would love the visual picture of the time drawing close.

* Today at the park, Nathan and I witnessed the sweet innocence of childhood in a special form. While the girls were playing on the playground, a young man with down syndrome came over and began playing with them. He was nearly an adult, but the girls were enthralled by the way he was so willing to play with them in a way most grown ups don't. They were oblivious in every way to his differences, and instead they saw him for what he was: a new friend. Marianna talked about how much fun she had playing with him all afternoon. Melted my heart.

* Marianna has been writing stories constantly. I think it is safe to say writing is her number one pass time of late, and one I picked up today I thought was especially sweet (and humorous). It is entitled "The Love of Me" and goes like this: "I love dad. I love mom. I love sistr.

* I finally took a picture of my very pregnant tummy. I cannot wait to meet this sweet boy one month from today.

10 Things Thursday

2010-11-04T22:55:00.001-05:00

1. Graham will be born 5 weeks from TODAY!! Boy, am I ready. I'm down to weekly visits and ultrasounds, and my doctor will continue to monitor as best he cans to make sure my incision is holding up until December 9th rolls around. Right now baby boy is 4 1/2 lbs, and if he keeps up the pace, he'll be 7 lbs by his birthday!!

2. The girls are thrilled about the new baby. For Marianna, I believe that excitement is based on experience and expectation. For Adrienne, not so much. I can't wait to see how she reacts to having a baby around, because right now I don't have much of a prediction. I really won't be surprised by anything.

3. I still feel great, but I'm wondering if I'll be able to paint my own toes one more time before delivery. I told Nathan it might be up to him, and he didn't respond.

4. Marianna's almost-spend-the-night birthday party is a week from Saturday, and preparations for the big day are in full swing. Actually, I chose this party theme because I thought the party planning would be pretty easy, and so far that has definitely been true. All the girls are coming in their pjs, and we will be eating pizza and popcorn, watching the Tinkerbell movie, and making fairy tutus.

5. Lately Adrienne has become a singer. Her music interest is a new development, because up until 3 months ago she didn't want me singing, the radio playing, or anything in between. But all that has changed, and we're so glad it has. Her sweet, super high soprano voice can be heard belting out "Happy Birthday" or "Jesus Loves Me" any time of the day. I think I can safely say we are all enjoying music a little bit more now that Adrienne has not only ceased to object, but is participating wholeheartedly.

6. On Monday night we wrapped up soccer season number two for Marianna. This fall she played for a league at church and Nathan was the coach, a winning combo in fun if not on the score board. Fortunately, this league is all about fun and score was not kept, so the fact that we wouldn't have won a single game if anyone had bothered to keep up, doesn't really matter. It was certainly fun seeing her start to get the hang of it, a 180 from when she played in the Spring where the number of times she touched the ball all season could be counted on one hand.

7. Besides doctors appointments and violin lessons, our weekdays have been relatively free of weekly commitments, giving us the chance to fall into a daily schedule that has been wonderful. Marianna is loving school, and I'm loving it too. Of course we aren't doing anything official, so there is no pressure to have to get anything done. But most days we sit down in the morning and go through math, phonics, reading, Bible, and writing, while Adrienne watches Letter Factory, colors pictures, and sits in my lap and listens to Marianna read. I was worried much more about how Adrienne would react to an every day school time than Marianna, so I've been really happy to see she does just fine.

8. This time last year I was knee deep in half marathon training and running magazines. Now I'm lucky if I walk two miles at a moderate pace. I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to being able to run again. But not in the heat. Nothing could ever make me miss running enough to want to run in the kind of heat we had this summer.

9. Nathan is teaching through David Platt's Radical right now, and I have been deeply challenged from what I have read so far.

10. I hope everyone will come to Christmas in the Valley on Saturday!!!!!!!! You don't want to miss it!

Christmas in the Valley!

2010-10-21T16:58:00.003-05:00

I am very excited to announce that my sister has decided once again to to put on a Christmas craft show extravaganza with the second annual Christmas in the Valley event!! Last year was fabulous, and from what I can tell from the vendors she has put together, this year is going to be even better.

If you don't remember from last year, Christmas in the Valley is a one day Christmas shopping event you don't want to miss. Every available space in my mom's house is transformed into a shopping superhighway, with vendors offering a wonderful assortment of Christmas gifts and decorations. There will be a photographer, a massage therapist, children's clothes and accessories, frames, stationary and Christmas cards, beauty products and weight loss wraps, personalized bags and clothes, Scentsy candles, decorations, casseroles to order, jewelry for children and adults, and much, much more! (click here for more details about each of the vendors) The best part of Christmas in the Valley is the fact that every vendor will be offering discounts, and some of the discounts being offered are crazy good. I can't wait to get a huge chunk of my shopping done, and I hope many of you can come as well.

oh the difference degrees make!

2010-10-01T08:04:00.004-05:00

I don't ever remember being this excited about the drop in temperature. This past week has been amazing. Everything about our routine seems a little sweeter with the backdrop of pleasant weather behind us. Soccer practice, errand running, free time, school work, you name it! I can hardly think of something that isn't enhanced by a perfect 73 degree day outside. A day filled with no other plans besides trampoline jumping would suit the girls just fine, and in fact, they've already each asked me a handful of times this morning when the jumping can begin.

I've been trying to imagine what life would be like if the weather was permanently like this. Theoretically it seems like everyone would be healthier and happier, but then I think about it more, and I wonder if it wouldn't just be something we took for granted and didn't even enjoy. If there wasn't the heat and the cold, could we really appreciate the perfect in between? Instead, the weather, both the heat that lasted up until last week and the coolness that has just begun, has reminded me a lot of God's faithfulness. He is faithful in the extended, uncomfortable hot seasons to keep us sustained and going, and then He is faithful to bring a time of relief as well.

I've been feeling like we are in a fall season of life right now in that regard. This pregnancy has been so, so good! Everything about it has fallen in place so perfectly. There haven't been any hiccups, but the blessings have been everywhere. Every morning when I get out my cup of water and begin my six vitamin regime, I am so grateful.

To tell you the truth, I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a mom period. Raising these girls right now is so incredible. The fun of it, the responsibility, the challenge, the calling to raise them as God would have me to, all of it is just incredible. I look forward to the days I have with them, and even though some are frustrating and some are hard, it is without doubt the most rewarding, wonderful thing I've ever done.

In two months those girlies will be joined by a brother, and I am sure the experience will only get better. Hard to imagine, but I know it's true! Until then, we will keep soaking up the season.

a breath of fresh air

2010-09-05T20:36:00.003-05:00

This city has been oppressive this summer. Most days in June through August were too hot to even consider doing anything outside other than swimming, so swim we did. But now that the temps have dropped nearly 20 degrees over the past week, I feel like the world is a new place. We've been to the park, to the zoo, and tonight we took the girls on their first ever fishing outing. It's a breath of fresh air.

And what warms my heart in the middle of this summer coolness? They do.

off the radar

2010-09-01T22:23:00.003-05:00

I feel like I've blinked twice, and a month has gone by. It wasn't until I got a comment tonight expressing worry about my extended blog absence that I even realized how extended the absence has been. 4 weeks exactly. The last post I wrote before going to the doctor for my 20 week ultrasound, and today I was back at the doctor for my next check up.

I might as well start there with my update. Baby Graham is doing great! Everything that can be seen via ultrasound has my doctor feeling very good, not only about Graham's development, but also my vertical incision. The biggest concern for this pregnancy centers around that incision, and from here on out I will be going every two weeks so that my doctor can keep a close eye on things. I feel terrific, but I'm trying to make a conscious effort not to over do things so that I can do everything in my power to make sure not to do something that would make the incision flare up. In the words of my doctor, "Just don't be stupid." So far, so good!

In other news, the little ladies in my life have had quite an eventful month of their own. If you remember, I had several big goals to accomplish before Graham's arrival in December, and many of those centered around Adrienne and Marianna. I'm very happy to report that this little ball of sunshine has some very exciting news.

She is very nearly completely potty trained!! And of virtually all her own doing. A little over a week ago, Adrienne decided that despite a shaky introduction, she very much likes the potty! Amazingly, we have had only two accidents in 10 days, and again, that has remarkably little to do with me. She also made her debut in big girl bed sleeping this past weekend, and in similar fashion to the potty training, she took to it without so much as a blink. Our trial run actually took place while we were visiting Nathan's sister in Birmingham this past weekend, but since the bed sleeping was a success, we have decided to make the official move from her crib to Marianna's room this weekend.

Marianna has had her share of newness this month as well. We have been doing "school" together since she has been two, but starting 3 weeks ago, we started something a little more structured. I ordered a curriculum from A Beka Books, and we have been having fun working through that each morning. We're just working an hour a day, but it has been something we are both enjoying. School time has brought some structure to our mornings, and even more than that, I feel like the added structure has made our days more productive all the way around. Marianna has also embarked on a new adventure into the world of music lessons. We gave her the choice of which activity she would like to participate in, and without any hesitation at all, she landed on violin. Lessons have been going on for a month, but we just got the go ahead to get our real violin yesterday. She is letting me know without any subtlety that every day that goes by without one is painful for her. I'm hoping that enthusiasm holds once practice begins in earnest =).

I could keep going, but just because I've waited a month, doesn't mean you want to read a month's worth of updates in one sitting =). Instead, I'll leave you with some pictures from August. And here's to better blogging in September!

Thursday

2010-08-04T08:25:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is a flagship day for me. Adrienne and I will be driving to Dallas alone, which will make for the longest I've ever been behind the wheel, and the farthest I've ever traveled by car with one of the kids. I'm sure praying it goes well! Especially in this heat. Goodness gracious. I thought it was hot here (temps around 103) but in Dallas they're even hotter (108!!).

But tomorrow is also a flagship day for another very important reason. For the first time ever, Nathan and I have a very good friend running for political office! Our friend Paul Boyd is running in the Shelby County election for Probate Court Clerk, and tomorrow is election day!!! It is so wonderful to be able to really know that the person running for office is someone with integrity and ability who can be trusted to do a fantastic job while in office. I hate that politics has become a dirty business in some many areas, but that's one more reason why I'm all the more excited that Paul is running. I early voted, so I will not have to make an early dash out to the polls before we take off, but I hope that if any of you living in Shelby County have not yet voted, you will make it a priority to make it to the polls tomorrow!

Before all of that excitement begins tomorrow, we have our big 20 week ultrasound for baby Graham today. Nathan and I have decided to take Marianna with us, and I am excited to be able to experience the ultrasound through her eyes. I have already had the opportunity to see our baby on an ultrasound screen 4 times before today, but Marianna will be seeing him for the very first time. It is such an amazing thing, something that still takes my breath away every time. We are so grateful to go into today with an amazing peace surrounding us, but we continue to pray that everything today will point toward a healthy, growing baby!

my July to December list

2010-07-26T15:21:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday we found out some big news: a baby boy is on the way! Graham Christopher Luce. I found out a wee bit early, but even so, I am 18 weeks, which means this pregnancy is getting very close to being half way over! Especially since the doctor has already told me he will need to be born several weeks early, due to my past vertical c-section. So we're looking at 4 months before he arrives, and I have a list of "want to's" that feels like it's a mile long to try and complete before then.

Here are some of the heftier items on my ever lengthening list:

1. Potty training Adrienne. If nothing on the list but this got done, I could live with that. It's always been a personal goal of mine to never have more than one child in diapers at a time, and if we can keep the dream alive, I would be a happy mom indeed.

2. Move Adrienne into her big girl bed. She and Marianna have bunk beds and will be sharing a room just as soon as the switch is made. I'm nervous because she is the greatest sleeper on the planet, and I hate to mess with something so good. But it has to be done, and Nathan says now is better than later, so we are looking at the transition taking place sometime in the next few weeks.

3. Establish an everyday routine starting in August. Summer has been fluid, to put it mildly. No two days ever look the same, and routine is something of the distant past. But starting when school starts up, I'd like for us to get on some kind of general schedule, that will include time for chores, school, playing, resting, etc. I'm hoping having this established for several months before the baby comes will make it easier to keep it up after he is here!

4. Finish all Christmas shopping by the last week in November.

5. Plan and implement Graham's nursery!

6. Sew. I haven't sewn in 6 months, and I want to get a few things cranked out for all three of the kids before our little guy gets here.

7. Work on building some age appropriate aspects of independence in each girl. There are a lot of things I do for Adrienne and Marianna that I know they could do for themselves. I do it because I can, but come December, some of those things I'm going to need the girls to take over and do themselves. I figure it's better to get them used to doing it now and ease into it, rather than throw a curve ball at them once the baby arrives.

Will it all get done? I'd be kind of blown away if it did. But I don't see anything wrong with setting the bar high and going for all the gusto. We'll see how it goes but one thing is for sure, come December, whether these things are in place or not, Marianna and Adrienne will be the proud big sisters to a new baby brother. And compared to that, none of the other things will seem all that important.

my camera makes a comeback

2010-07-06T13:03:00.005-05:00

I'm afraid the month of June went by without a single picture snapped, and after 5 months of extensive usage, I'm sure my camera was wondering, "Why the neglect?". I think I'm going to have to blame the heat for the month long absence. I definitely prefer taking pictures outdoors, but around these parts, June was brutal. July has actually been much, much nicer, resulting in the camera's return from sabbatical.

On the 4th we went to lunch with Nathan's family, and afterwards I tried to get a shot of the girls I could use for a new 20x20 frame I got for my birthday. I'm toying with the idea of using one of the two I got of the girls together, but it's hard for me to commit to any picture that is going to be that large. Any thoughts on which one I should use? Nathan thinks one, and I think another.

reality check

2010-07-02T08:55:00.002-05:00

I had the Today Show on one morning last week, and there was a lady on talking about time management. She gave a handful of shocking statistics, with one in particular totally blowing me away. According to her information, the average stay at home mom spends 4 hours per week playing with her children. Not a working dad, or even a working mom, but a stay at home mom. Wow.

After the shock wore away, that number made me sad. It made me realize how easy it is to lose sight of what it's all about, because I don't think many stay at home moms go into the venture anticipating just over 30 minutes a day spending quality time with their kids. That is so outrageous! Yet I can see how it happens. Life. Busyness. All of it can creep in, and without intentionality toward something else, the things that really matter can go away without you hardly even noticing.

It was really a wake up call. Not to spend more than 30 minutes a day playing with the kids, but to think about carving out sections of time throughout our day for nothing else than sitting down and doing things with the girls. It made me see how important it is to prioritize our reading, puzzle making, picture drawing, game playing time together. Those are the things I want to do every day, not just the days that happen to be slow and I have a few extra minutes before it's time to run the next errand or change the next load of laundry.

What are my girls going to remember about their childhood when they grow up? Who can say, but I sure hope many of their memories are filled with things they did with Nathan and me, spending time together.

life

2010-06-28T20:56:00.002-05:00

I've disappeared for the past few weeks, but not for any particular reason other than life has been good and busy and filled with summer things. Most days involve swimming, and my two little fish wouldn't have it any other way. One of the first words out of Adrienne's mouth in the morning is "Pool?" and Marianna has made it clear that the summer out of doors is misery if she's not in the water. Because of that, we're grateful Nathan's parents have a pool ready and waiting just ten minutes away!

We've also had some really good news about our baby on the way. Several weeks ago I went in for a nuchal translucency ultrasound that would screen for trisomy 18 and several other things. Both the ultrasound and the blood work indicated nothing other than a perfectly healthy baby, and we are thrilled and grateful. I feel nothing but peace as we move forward with this pregnancy, and that is something I know is straight from God.

What else? I am just about to dive into John MacArthur's 12 Ordinary Men. I thought Toy Story 3 was amazing. The girls are teaching me patience in this hot summer season as dawdling seems to be the order of the day getting in and out of the car. I love patriotism and the 4th of July. For some reason the summer has brought my picture taking to a total halt, so I have zippo to update. My summer blog break is now officially over.

back in the saddle

2010-06-07T17:00:00.006-05:00

We were gone for seven days, and I feel like it has taken me almost that long to catch up on everything again. Traveling can really take it out of me evidently. Up until today, a nap was in order every single afternoon since we got back on Wednesday. I'm not complaining or anything; a nap (and I mean one longer than 15 minutes) is a welcome part of any day lately. I'm just giving the reason behind the delayed update.

Our trip was fantastic from beginning to end. We began in New Haven, Connecticut where we toured through the quaint little New England city with Nathan's older brother Micah. Micah has lived in New Haven for the past three years, so he was able to give us a wonderful tour of Yale, a New England beach, one of the two mountains of New Haven, and the local airport where he is currently getting his pilot's license.

From there we headed to Boston, one of my all time favorite cities, to go to a game at Fenway, walk through the historical part of town, and go whale watching. The weather was amazing and the city is picturesque in every way. Best of all, we finally got to see the Red Sox win!

We ended the trip with a couple of days in New York, and again, the city is amazing! Nathan and I have been twice before, but seeing it through Marianna's eyes made it exciting all over again. We toured the city from a water taxi, went to the Museum of Natural History, explored FAO Schwartz and Toys R Us, had lunch at the American Girl Place, and experienced Mary Poppins on Broadway. It was such a whirl wind, but every bit of it was terrific.

We knew the pace and scope of the trip was not really two year old friendly, so Adrienne had an adventure of her own, which began with my parents and ended with the wonderful Pepper family, who she was with the first three weeks of her life before she was able to come home. She had the time of her life as well, but we were so happy to get home to see her by the time Wednesday came around!

The normal ho hum pace of life has been very nice over the past five days. Vacation is fun, but it's hard to beat home sweet home.

oh diapers, where art thou?

2010-05-25T21:10:00.004-05:00

Today was packing day, because in the morning we are off for a 7 day vacation to Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York! We are all thrilled about the trip, but this packing...whew. It has really taken it out of me this time. 7 days worth of packing for four has left my mind boggled and my body beat. Or maybe that's the new baby on the way. Or maybe it's both.

I think my strategy in attacking this project was flawed from the get go. Instead of packing for one person at a time, I began packing for all of us in stages. I'd do a little in our room, then head to Marianna's, then to Adrienne's, then back to Marianna's to put back everything that Adrienne had just pulled out of Marianna's bag, then back to Adrienne's to see what she was pulling out in hers. It's been crazy. And in the midst of the craziness, I realized that I had lost 100 diapers. Gone. Vanished. Diapers of all things. I scoured Adrienne's room then Marianna's, and I found nothing. I knew I had bought the giant pack of diapers from Sam's just a week ago, but knowing that doesn't mean squat if I couldn't find them. So it was off to Target for me tonight to buy a new pack.

When I got home, I found all the diapers in the girls' doll house. We are now definitely covered for the trip.

So once we finally get off on this trip, what do we have in store? A visit with Nathan's brother in New Haven, which includes a tour of Yale (where he works) a hike, and a visit to a terrific ice cream parlor. A 3 day trip to Boston where we will go to a Red Sox game, walk the Freedom Trail, and do a little whale watching. We are wrapping it up with two days in New York where we plan on visiting the American Girl store, and seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway.

We can't wait.

And we can't wait for that new little baby either. I wasn't really going to leave you with just that snippet. We are expecting this next little one early December, and we are so excited and ready to see what God has in store. I don't know everything the next months hold, but I couldn't feel more sure that God is in control, and He will be walking us through every step of the way.

saying goodbye makes me sad

2010-05-24T22:03:00.003-05:00

And after two nights in a row of saying goodbye to my TV friends, I'm feeling blue. Isn't that silly? But I do. Eight years of 24 and 6 years of LOST, and now, in back to back nights, they are over. I knew it was time, but I still don't like the moment when goodbye actually comes.

Goodbyes make me want to grab a pack of sour straws and do something frivolous or get a tall Chai, curl up with a book, and read until the blueness lifts. I think the book without the Chai will have to suffice for tonight, and hopefully by tomorrow I'll be as good as new.

But for tonight, I will mourn. Goodbye 24 and LOST. It's been a fun ride.

(un)reserved

2010-05-18T17:01:00.003-05:00

How many of you know what it is like to parent a reserved child? I would guess many of you, although I'm sure there are some out there with only extroverts that have never known a day of reserve in their lives. I actually have one of each. My super-extrovert, Adrienne, has never met a stranger. I used to have to retrieve her from the laps of random mothers during story hour and keep her from joining the picnics of those seated around us at parks. She checks herself into her class at church, runs to greet friends (adults included), and I can count on one hand the number of times she has cried when I have left her.

But long before I had my super-extrovert, I had Marianna. She has lived life right in the middle of extrovert and introvert from the moment she was born. What I mean by that is that she is either very reserved or very unreserved, not that she is actually in the middle. Because she is most definitely not. She is a mixture of both extremes, and I never know which it is going to be. Sometimes she will strike up a conversation on the play ground with a stranger and run off with that child as if she has known her for quite some time. Other times she will not even glance at other kids or offer so much as a, "hi." This week at church we were walking through the halls when a cute little boy her age yelled, "Marianna, Marianna! Hi!" She almost ran and hid because she said she didn't know his name.

If any of this sounds familiar, then you know that one of the difficulties of parenting a child who has both tendencies is not having much of an idea how your child will react in a given situation. Do I know for sure how Marianna will respond to going into her class? Not really. Do I know whether she will talk to the people Nathan works with when we visit his office? Nope. Do I have any idea whether she will hide behind my back or jump right into the action when we walk into the middle of a birthday party. Not a clue. So this past weekend, I really didn't know how she was going to respond to her first ever dance recital. She has never been on stage. For my intro/extro, the day held the possibility for many outcomes. I hoped it would be a day she really enjoyed 1) because of all her hard work 2) so she would have a positive first experience in front of a crowd. But I reallly didn't know.

30 minutes before the show started, I dropped her off backstage. One of the last things she told me was, "Mom, these socks are really hurting my feet." Not a good omen. I sat out in the auditorium and waited til her number to see what it was going to be. 10 seconds in, I knew she was a performer. The stage, at least for now, is like a second home.

It could have gone very, very differently, and if so, that would have been fine. I never want to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. But I also never want her reserve to keep her from doing something she loves. I'm glad to say that for her first recital, it definitely did not.

Birthday Days

2010-05-12T22:00:00.000-05:00

After a weekend of celebrating, Adrienne officially turned two on Monday. She seems unaware that this is her moment to become terrible, so thankfully she has continued on just as always. I hope none of her older friends let her in on the secret =)

We started the celebration on Saturday with a cookout party in Adrienne's Jannie and Smokey's (my parent's) backyard, newly equipped with play set and a trampoline, making it a fun party destination. There was only one problem. Two minutes into the party, Adrienne took a nasty fall. Probably the worst one to date. There was blood and swelling, both things that don't seems right for a birthday girl, but she took it in stride and seemed to enjoy the party regardless of all injuries sustained.

There were presents, games, jumping, crafts, and my very favorite part, a lovely pig cake!

Adrienne's wounds are healing nicely, and she got some encouraging news from her doctor when we went for her two year checkup. She is now officially on the growth chart, weighing in at the 5th percentile for weight! For a girl who has never gotten to the first, that's something to celebrate all by itself. She also has been doing some vertical growing as well, hitting the 50th percentile for height.

Our girl is growing up. She is talking more every day, growing more lovely all the time, and she has never been a greater joy. Happy birthday, baby girl!

Guess Who's Having a Party?

2010-05-08T08:35:00.004-05:00

Here's a clue. The owner of these cute little toes.

Yes! You guessed right.

Adrienne is having her two year birthday bash today, and boy does it look like a beautiful day for a party!

Want a preview of what's to come?

You'll never guess what this morphed into last night, but I can tell you it sure is cute!!

The Personalized Peacock

2010-05-06T14:09:00.005-05:00

I'm so excited about my sister's new monogramming business! She and her good friend Ashley have opened up shop, and their work is amazing. If you have a need for anything personalized, go over to her website and check it out! She is also hosting a giveaway here for a free item of your choice. Hurry over and enter!

the artist within

2010-05-03T21:16:00.004-05:00

It seems like Marianna has tapped into hers.

Here are a few samplings from the past two days.

...a recipe

...the new decoration leading into our bedroom.

This is is my favorite. It was what she came home with from church Sunday morning.

If you look closely, you can see that Ariel is wearing a King of Kings crown on her head. Looks like we have our work cut out for us where her theology is concerned =)

Yesterday...

2010-04-28T07:49:00.002-05:00

...while I was running I was hit by the most glorious wave of honey suckle saturated air I have every smelled. It was heavenly.

...I had it on good authority that, and I quote, "Adrienne crushed a lady bug with her bare hands!" Maybe it was the first, maybe not. Hard to know about that sort of thing.

...I got on my parents' new trampoline for the first time. The kids have been jumping NON-STOP for the past week, but it wasn't until yesterday that I ventured up there with Marianna. I laid flat on my back and closed my eyes while she bounced in circles around me. It was almost like getting a massage.

...we had vegetarian burrito casserole for dinner, and it was delicious!

...I finished the invitations to Adrienne's second birthday party. In less than two weeks, she is going to be two. Oh my goodness.

...I ate some of the homemade strawberry jam that Marianna and I made after our two strawberry picking adventures last week. I could have eaten it by the spoonful.

...an opportunity presented itself for me to think long and hard about how to truly "shepherd my child's heart." I want so badly to guide my girls through life in a loving and biblically sound way, but sometimes it's difficult in the middle of the situation to be 100% positive exactly what to do. I was reassured (for the zillionth time) that parenting is something that must be done by looking to God constantly for the wisdom and strength needed to be the mom He has called me to be.

...after watching American Idol, it was confirmed that I really don't care who wins this year. I hardly even have a favorite.

...I went to bed before 10:00. Can't remember the last time I did that, but boy, do I feel rested this morning.

five things Friday

2010-04-16T08:04:00.003-05:00

1. The Craig's List couch that I bought two weeks ago has been been promoted out of the garage and into our living room! I wouldn't say that it is smell-free, but I would say it is smoke-free. That was good enough for me, and I'm loving it.

2. Nathan, my sister and her husband, my dad, and several others were able to construct a magnificent new play set over the course of three days. They finished on Tuesday, and already it has been a huge hit!! I'm so excited about the many, many hours of playing that will be done on it over the next 10 years.

3. Marianna makes almost every decision right now according to eenie-meenie-minne-mo. Does every kid go through this phase, or is this her own little pecularity?

4. I really want to go on a family camping trip sometime soon, but it looks like April and May are out because of Marianna's Saturday morning soccer games. Do you think it's too hot for a camp fire once we hit June? I just can't imagine going unless there's a fire, so I wonder if we'll need to wait until October.

5. I've been thinking about home schooling more and more lately. I don't have anything against putting Marianna, and later Adrienne, in a public school, but I also love teaching and I think it might be a great fit for us. According to her birthday, Marianna doesn't start Kindergarten for another year and a half, but I'm throwing around the idea of going ahead and starting in the fall at home. We will see.

It's started

2010-04-14T15:06:00.004-05:00

I just had one of those conversations with Marianna that I used to have with my parents and grandparents growing up. I'm sure it will be one of many more to come. It went something like this:

(I'm getting a movie ready for Marianna to watch; it's a VHS she borrowed from my parents. I am fast forwarding through the previews)

Marianna: Stop doing that, Mom. Just skip it.

Me: I can't skip it; it's a VHS not a DVD.

Marianna: It can't skip? Why not?

Me: That's just how VHS works. Did you know this is all I had when I was a little girl? There were no DVDs.

Marianna: No DVDs?! Aren't you glad you've come to the better life where DVDs are all we have? (this is said with mellow-drama and hands thrown up in the air) Mom, were you sad when you were growing up that you wanted to skip but couldn't?

Me: Can you believe I didn't even know the difference? I didn't know what skipping was.

This is where the conversation ended. Evidently we had ventured into waters Marianna couldn't even fathom. But the whole thing made me laugh because I realized how old I'm starting to sound. VHS? I might as well have been from another century instead of a decade as far as Marianna was concerned. So it has definitely started. I'm afraid my age is showing and there is no going back.

Communication: Words aren't everything

2010-04-08T15:45:00.005-05:00

Adrienne is a girl with a passion for communication. When she has a point to make, she likes to make it loud and clear. She has a vocabulary of about 50 words, but she has not quite ventured into stringing any of those words together to make sentences, and because of that, the spoken word is not always her primary method of communication. But don't let that fool you into thinking she can't deliver a message, because let me tell you, she can.

I witnessed a prime example of this communication prowess a few days ago. I had dropped by my mom's house one afternoon so that Marianna could begin making her "egg museum" with my sister, Breanna. (For those who are curious, an egg museum consists of plastic easter eggs that have been decorated with googly eyes, easter grass for hair, and lots of marker for all other adornment). Breanna and my mom weren't home, but Andrew, my 14 year old brother, was. While I was doing something in another part of the house, Adrienne settled in with Andrew on the couch. After a few minutes, I came in to collect her and said, "Adrienne, come on. It's time to go."

She looked back at me, eyes narrowed with determination, and said, "No. Andoo." in her most emphatic voice. One second later, her disposition changed into one of airy cheerfulness, as she looked at me and smiled, lifted her hand to wave and proclaimed, "Bye, bye! Bye, bye!" She then turned around, scooted closer to Andrew, and pretended as if I was no longer there. Point made. I was being dismissed, and she was spending the afternoon with Andrew and his bag of pretzels. This routine was repeated a second time, and maybe even a third, getting more dramatic with each rendition. Andrew and I were rolling with laughter by the time I reached down and grabbed the little goose, who smiled before giving in and telling Andrew, "Bye, bye."

You can gather from this that Adrienne has already learned one of the fundamental keys of self-expression: words are only a small part of the pie where communication is concerned. Tone of voice, body language, and eye contact are the things of which she has mastered, making her one of the finest limited-verbal commuincators I have ever seen. She is proficient at order giving, using the word "sit" along with her military-grade sterness, a dramatically pointed finger, and an eyebrows drawn together look, to add weight to the single word order. She is the best at letting people know they are loved, knowing that big smiles, bigger hugs, and shouts of "yay!" mean just as much as "I love you." She tells us what she wants to do, what she wants to eat, where she wants to go, and what she wants us doing while she is doing those things, and she does so with less words than you would think possible.

Of course her vocabulary will increase and she will start using more and more words in her messages, and from what I've seen so far, those words will just help her increase her natural talent. She is a girl who likes to be heard, and being a kindred spirt, I can understand.

diamond in the rough

2010-04-07T09:00:00.003-05:00

Isn't she a beauty? She gleams, just like the hidden treasure she is. So where did I find this leather couch to which I am assigning all of these jewel-like attributes? Craigslist.

Craigslist can be overwhelming and a waste of time, but it can also be amazing. Let me give you the history behind the couch, and you will see what I mean. I've been looking on and off for a new couch for a while. I don't want to spend a lot of money on a new one because I know that having young children isn't good for the life span of furniture. That's why I've been checking Craigslist. I've been hoping to find a good deal on a used couch, but I saw that it was like looking for a needle in a haystack: junk is everywhere. But on Monday I saw an add that caught my eye. The couch looked kind of terrible, but I loved the shape. I thought, maybe it's just a really bad picture and the couch isn't as banged up as it looks. So I wrote the guy and asked. I told him I really wasn't interested in driving to where he was, 45 minutes away, if it wasn't in good condition. I also asked if he could tell me how old it was and where he got it. He had to do a little research because he had bought it from a friend, but he found out it was 2 years old from William Sonoma Home.

Honestly, I didn't even know William Sonoma had a Home section. I had never seen there stuff or been to their website, so I checked it out. Then I fell out of my seat. Their leather couches run anywhere from $5,000-$6,000! I didn't even know couches came that expensive =). But evidently they do, and this guy was telling me he had one sitting in his garage, collecting dust.

So we jumped in my parents' mini-van and headed over to see it in person. Nathan gave me the speech about keeping my game face on so that we could see if he would take less. I gave him all of my assurances about keeping the enthusiasm down, trying not to look sold on it immediately, etc, etc. And then we pulled in, I saw that it was perfect and beautiful and exactly what I was looking for, and I could wait all of 60 seconds before blurting out, "I love it! Let's get it!" I don't think that's exactly what Nathan had in mind when he had told me about that game face, but I could hardly help it. I kept thinking he was going to change his mind. So we threw bartering out the window, bought the couch, just barely fit it in the van, and headed back.

I got the first little prick in my bubble when my dad helped Nathan get it out of the van and he told him it smelled like smoke. Nathan and I have had terrible sinus trouble for the past week, and consequently, we can't smell a thing. So that explains why the couch is currently sitting in our garage. It's fumugating.

I'm really not discouraged. I have every hope that we can get the smell out with a little work and time. So far, I have saturated all non-leather parts with Febreeze, rubbed the leather with a special leather cleaner, and opened the garage during the day for the breeze to help it air out. Any other suggestions? I'd love to hear them, because I am eagerly looking forward to the day (hopefully soon) when the couch makes its residence inside the living room!

joy

2010-04-02T22:09:00.006-05:00

Girls with freshly dyed Easter eggs...

Adrienne's blonde bangs and sweet heart smile...

Marianna's no teeth showing grin and big blue eyes...

Easter bunny cakes...

These things all bring a lot of joy to my heart!

10 Things Thursday

2010-04-01T22:41:00.003-05:00

1. You know how people forget the pain of childbirth after the baby is born because the baby is so wonderful they can't think about anything else? I think there is a similar correlation between spring and sinus colds. I love spring so much, I forget each year about the sinus pressure and headaches that go hand in hand. I wouldn't trade the weather for anything, but at the same time, breathing out of my right nostril again wouldn't be half bad either.

2. I think resurrection eggs are a great idea! I have never seen them before this year, but I used them recently to tell the Easter story and I loved it.

3. March Madness is heavenly to me. There is no sporting event that can hold a candle to it. Brackets, back-to-back games, upsets and Cinderella stories... I love it.

4. We play volleyball with our Sunday School class at church, and tonight we kissed our undefeated season goodbye. I hate to lose, but we're still holding out hope for winning the overall championship.

5. I just ordered two new books, one on marriage and one on parenting. I was given advice recently to read as many on both subjects as I could, and I realized that it had been years since I had read a book on either one. The marriage book is called Love and War and the parenting book is Shepherding a Child's Heart. I'll let you know what I learn!

6. Marianna has her first soccer game on Saturday. It feels so momentous: the first sporting event of what will surely be hundreds to come. Marianna may not know much about the rules just yet, but she does have the gear: pink socks, pink shorts, pink and black cleats, and a soccer ball with pink markings. To her, what else matters?

7. We were talking the other day about her first game, and Marianna asked, "Mom, what happens if I fall down and the grass gets me? Do I still keep playing?" Her tone indicated she didn't see how that could be possible. I realized this might be an interesting season.

8. I love that Adrienne is a hugger. She'll give a hug to anyone she meets, and if you don't see her coming, it's more like a tackle.

9. It was with a lot of joy that I packed away all of the girls' winter clothes this week.

10. That being said, I am fully prepared to go through a cold snap or two between now and permanently warm weather. But that's just life. We'll slap on some Springy white sweaters with our summer dresses, and we'll deal it. There's no turning back now. Spring is here!

Experiment: tested and in need of more testing still

2010-03-31T16:11:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I wrote about the 15 minute power nap, and today I decided to test it out. I set the alarm on my phone, locked the dogs out of the upstairs room, and prepared to see just how much rejuvenation can come from such a short rest. 30 seconds in, the dog began to scratch at the door. 30 more seconds and Marianna was yelling for me from downstairs where she was taking her rest. I got up, went out to see what Marianna wanted, returned to the couch with the new knowledge M had given me regarding a fairy's ability to fly. I began to doubt the practicality of getting any rest at all, let alone 15 straight minutes. A few more minutes, and I realized I was holding my breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

Surprisingly, nothing did. I wouldn't say I fell asleep, but I would say I felt better than before I took the rest, so I think that counts for something!

15 minutes

2010-03-30T15:19:00.002-05:00

I don't know about you, but the thought of taking a nap (even a much needed one) right in the middle of what should be my most productive time of the day shoots shivers of guilt up and down my spine. It seems that unless you are pregnant or sick, there isn't an excuse good enough to choose sleep over all the many other things that should be done in the kids' rest time. Really, isn't it true?

But the fact is, the head knowledge that a nap is wasteful doesn't always get rid of that 3:00 I-would-like-nothing-better-than-to-take-a-nap feeling. So what are my options? One, of course, is to simply press on, barrel through, pour the cup of coffee and get on with what I should really be doing. Or I could just take the nap and deal with the guilt later. Those are the obvious two possibilities. But could it be that a 3rd, and possibly even better option is out there?

I remember as a little girl walking into my grandfather's study to find him stretched out on the floor, right in front of the window, taking his 15 minute power nap. I always thought it was funny to think that 15 minutes would do any good, but at the ripe age of 10, what do you expect? Today, however, as I looked up and saw the clock had hit 3:00, I remembered those power naps, and all of the sudden, I understood. I haven't really tried one out, so this theory is firmly in the untested phase of things, but it makes perfect sense. What if I set the timer and laid down on the couch for a guilt-free quarter hours rest? Would it do the trick? My guess is that it absolutely would.

I've wasted my window of opportunity today, but tomorrow? Yes, I think tomorrow I will try it out and see what 15 minutes might do for my afternoon.

from the beginning of time

2010-03-12T07:53:00.004-06:00

Two years ago, Nathan and I did something we never would have even imagined ourselves doing at the ages of 25 and 27. We sure hadn't seen it coming, but it was also something that we knew was exactly what God wanted us doing. We felt the kind of sureness that comes seldom in life; I guess it was assurance that even though we were making a move that was opening us up to a very unknown future, God was going to do something incredible.

With that in mind, and hearts handed over to God for His protection, we delivered our adoption paperwork to our agency. Then we settled in to wait and pray. Even then, we knew there were interviews to complete and a home study to be done, so a baby wasn't a possibility quite yet. That moment came a month later, in April, when we opened up a letter, very short but very full. We were approved by our agency to become a prospective adoptive couple.

I can remember being thrilled from my toes to my hair as I considered the baby that God was going to bring into our home. Yes, there were many scary possibilities, many things unknown, many opportunities along the way to get hurt, but none of that could keep back the excitement that I felt.

But even then, how could I have imagined this?

When I take it all in, it almost knocks me over. There isn't even imagining life without Adrienne.

She is the third baby God had for me from the beginning of time, of that I am convinced.

God knows everything and always has. That means that He knew about Poppy, He knew how she would come into our lives and change everything, He knew how she would touch us, and He knew how He would call here home.

He knew that on this earth, the sister Marianna would be holding onto and kissing and pestering and loving, would not be the one born 2 years after she was. It would be the one born 2 1/2 years after her. That's the kind of plan God makes for our lives. The kind that can not be conceived with human logic and reasoning skills. But this is the plan He had for me, and its beauty takes my breath away.

perspective

2010-03-09T08:16:00.001-06:00

I've been mulling over one of those hypothetical questions—the kind that serves absolutely no purpose other than to make me think. Here's what it is: If I could change one thing about myself, what would it be? I'm not willing to commit to a lifetime answer, but for now, I think I have settled on something. I would change my persistent short-sightedness. My mindset that seems to autopilot back to relying on my very human, very flawed perspective, instead of God's.

I've been trying to think about all of the things that would be different in my life if I could always see the big picture without the concerns of the small scene crowding out my vision, and I think I've pretty much decided that it would all be different. Every single little aspect of my life. How would I spend money if I always had God's eternal perspective in mind? How would spend my time? How would I use my talents? How would I treat those around me?

Differently. I'm convinced of that. So many of the things I do are done before they are ever put through that final filter of eternal perspective. In fact, if I really had it right, that wouldn't be the final filter, but the first. Keeping my thoughts focused on the big picture, what am I really here for setting is something I know would radically change the way I did things. It is a simple concept, but for me at least, unbelievably difficult to put into practice all of the time. The reason for that probably has something to do with the fact that it doesn't just happen on its own, even if it's something I wish did. Instead it takes focus. Prayer. Commitment. A daily effort and decision to choose to see things in light of eternity instead of the light of today.

It's something I want, and it's something I know I need. Some things may be out of our control to change in our lives, but this is not one of those things. Every day, for the rest of my life, it can be something I strive for, and hopefully get closer and closer to attaining, until finally, one day, I am face to face with Him and there will no longer be a need for it.

4, 3, 2, 1

2010-02-22T08:59:00.004-06:00

*** UPDATE***

The drama has ended with a best case scenario stamped all over it. After a visit to a pediatric orthopedist this afternoon, he came to the conclusion that Marianna's elbow isn't fractured at all! What appeared to be a fracture to the radiologist was a jagged edge in her growth plate. That means we have a healthy girl on her hands with no need for pins, surgery, or even a cast! Smiles all around as we celebrate what was indeed nothing more than a case of nursemaid's elbow to begin with. Yay!!!

Original Post

4 -- the number of times we have been to the ER with one of our girls.

3 -- the number of times we have been to the ER with Marianna.

2 -- the number of times we have been to the ER with Marianna in a 24 hour span this past weekend.

1 -- the number of doctors I'm hoping it's going to take to finally tell us what needs to be done.

This weekend, which began as a relaxing beginning to Nathan's vacation, turned into total craziness starting at about 9:30 Saturday night. We had friends over and the kids had been playing together all night upstairs. Some of our friends had just gone upstairs to get their kids ready to go, when I heard a thud and crying. It took just a few seconds to tell this was serious crying, and it was Marianna. I ran up the stairs, scooped her up, and brought her back down to hold her while she settled down. But she didn't settle down. She kept complaining about her arm, crying whenever we tried to look at it, and down right screaming when Nathan tried to straighten it. I don't have any experience with breaks, but to me her symptoms seemed tell tale of a fracture, so we decided we better head in and have it checked out.

Of course it happened on a weekend late at night. That's how it always happens =). So the ER it was. We checked in at 10:30, had had her x-rays by 11:00 and were hopeful about being home quickly after all.

That was not to be.

Three and a half hours later, we were finally called back to see a doctor. Marianna had been amazingly chipper up to that point, but by 2:30 am, her perk had fizzled and she wasn't interested in seeing the doctor. Especially when he took her arm, twisted it up and around and pushed, popping her dislocated elbow back into place. The good news, he told us, was that her arm was not fractured. He said she would be just fine, only a little sore while the torn ligaments healed. We were good to go.

We got back home and in bed just before 4:00 am. Marianna woke up happy and excited about her arm mobility, and our only indication of the soreness the doctor had warned of came when I tried to help her put a new shirt on. She couldn't move her elbow in a way that allowed her to get her left sleeve over her arm. I wasn't at all concerned, especially since she was feeling, what appeared to be, 100% better.

Fast forward a few hours when we were all settling in to take a nap in front of the hockey game, to a phone call we received from the ER. The nurse explained that upon second review by a radiologist, they discovered that her elbow did indeed have a fracture, one that might require surgery or pins. They told us we needed to return to the ER immediately to have a splint put on until we were able to see a pediatric orthopedist.

We were not going to be caught unprepared again for our second trip to the ER, so we loaded up an overnight bag with a pillow, Marianna's Leapster, DVDs, books, and food. This time we were there just over two hours, but the experience was surprisingly 100% more traumatic for Marianna. The splint freaked her out. Big time. She wasn't just upset about it; she was angry. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could make her calm down except time. After an hour, I was ready to call back up to the ER and ask them how to cut the thing off of her. It was awful. But an additional hour seemed to do the trick, and by evening, she was at peace with the splint and its effect on her mobility.

She woke up as bright and happy as sunshine this morning, and she is ready for her third appointment, this time in a doctor's office setting. We are hoping that the orthopedist will be able to tell us exactly what needs to be done, and I'm praying for no surgery. But whatever the case, I'm grateful for the second check that was done that caught the fracture. I hate to think that it might have gone unnoticed and caused her problems down the road.

I have never broken anything, Nathan has never broken anything, so this is new territory for us. It stinks having to see your baby go through something like that, but we are trying to make it fun any chance we get, and I'm awfully proud of her for how she's handled the unpleasantness. I'll let you know how it turns out today.

MPM-Shopping

2010-02-15T15:28:00.004-06:00

My weakness is a sale. For me, buying something full price is akin to being stuck with a needle at the doctor's office, and I absolutely hate needles. I will be the first to admit that I am a sucker, and at times I buy too much because the deal was too good to pass up. But I am really putting forth a concentrated effort not to buy anything that I don't like just because it's on sale. Ebay has been my own worst enemy in that regard ever since children, but I've made a committment to put that bad little habit to rest. I will not buy it if I don't like it. Not even if it's just $2.95 plus shipping. Not even if it's something I think I might be able to talk myself into liking in a few days if I just concentrate on the deal. Nope. No longer.

But all of that was just a tangent. I stray from the topic at hand. What is my most eventful shopping experience lately? Well, just today I was pretty happy to see that the Gap was having a 40% off everything in the store sale. A new pair of jeans for $35.00 is always a happy event!

But much, much better than that was my buy several weeks back at Ann Taylor. An email coupon for 40% off the lowest sale price enabled me to get a $178.00 cashmere sweater for $17.98. That kind of deal gives me an all over glow of a frugalista at her finest (a term coined by a Target commercial. I love it).

I would be cheating this post if I also didn't go back a few months and tell you about my shopping experience at Remember Nguyen. Back at Thanksgiving they were having a blowout sale on all of there summer merchandise, so I stocked up for the girls' spring and summer wardrobe. I didn't pay more than $15.00 for any of these outfits. Most were less than $10.00. I can't even make clothes that inexpensively!

So now you have it. A compilation of exciting shopping lately!

10 Things Wednesday

2010-02-03T16:45:00.005-06:00

1. My sister-in-law called today and let me know that my blog updating has something to be desired. That's why I'm sitting down this afternoon and getting to it =).

2. I think Anne of Green Gables is one of the best movies of all time. LOVE IT! I've been watching it this week over the course of several days, and I have proven once again that it doesn't matter how many times I see it. I will always cry.

3. I'm crazy about my new camera. For those who have asked, it is a Canon Rebel, and snapping away with it is pure joy. Here is a picture from this week's snow.

4. I have decided to run in another half-marathon sometime in April. Motivation is what keeps me going, and I've had the chance to prove to myself that without it, I just don't run.

5. Adrienne is developing quite an opinion on just about everything. Gone are the days where she allowed herself to be pushed around by an older sister, or where she could be counted on to be an angel in a shopping cart, or when she wanted nothing more to share anything and everything she had. She is almost two, and she is letting us know =)

6. Overstock is my best friend. I just ordered blinds for my entire house for 1/3 of the price we had been quoted from a local blind company. Best part? They look fabulous!

7. I continue to be a complete and utter failure at early wake-ups. 6:30 alludes me every morning, no matter the pep speech I give myself the night before. Oh the things that could be done if I would only get up and get to it!

8. I am trying to find two new frames to hang pictures of the girls. I love fun frames, but I'm having a hard time finding just the right ones. Anyone have a favorite frame shop? I'm all ears.

9. I'm almost done reading a book that I'm sure will impact me forever. It's called Adopted for Life by Russell Moore, and I feel like it's a must read for those who have ever thought about adopting, and a great book for those who have never even considered.

10. I don't wish that I lived 100 years ago, but if there is one thing I do envy from that time period, it is waltzing. How I would love to waltz!

Mystery Post Monday-Decisions

2010-01-25T22:18:00.002-06:00

My sister recently started a weekly post she is calling Mystery Post Mondays, and I'm going to jump on board whenever I can and participate! The topic randomly selected this morning pertains to decisions, and more specifically, the best decision that I have made this month.

I can tell you quite confidently that not only one, but three decisions I made after this morning's trip to Target, will no doubt prove to be the best of the month. Let me detail the perfect storm of unfortunate factors that left me feeling the need to apologize to any of you who have may have seen me and my children from 11:00-12:00, and which also consequently led to the making of the three fabulous decisions that will hopefully serve as protection for future outings.

Everything was starting off A-okay. Since it was right before lunch, I decided to let the girls have some popcorn while we strolled, in hopes of staving off the inevitable, "I'm hungry. I'm really, really hungry," remarks that begin pouring out as we go down the food aisles near noon. So I got the popcorn, and just because I really wanted it to be a fun trip I got the blue Icee too. I didn't stop there. I also allowed the girls to ride in that horrific contraption posing as a convenient way to push two young children through the store: the two-seater cart. The girls were ready for some serious fun.

My first clue that trouble was lurking came the moment I stuck the straw into the Icee. Up to this point, Adrienne has had no desire for anything but milk or water, but let me tell you, all of that has changed. As soon as she saw the icy blueness, she went crazy. She wanted it. All of it.

If you've ever been in similar circumstance, you can pretty much guess the rest. There is nothing fun about refereeing one small Icee between two thirsty girls, while manipulating that beast of a cart, and (yes, I really had dreamed to the moon and back) carrying my Starbucks. But that was just the beginning. The fun didn't really start until the popcorn, which had been placed in a nook at the feet of the girls, got kicked over in one of the Icee confrontations. Like a covering of snow, the popcorn blanketed the bottom of the cart where the girls feet went. This problem was magnified by the fact that the bottom of the cart actually had small slats instead of solid plastic, which allowed all of that popcorn to drop out, piece by piece, throughout the store. I spent the rest of the trip picking up popcorn as it dropped, every few feet or so, and sometimes, actually getting down on all fours to sweep it into piles with my hands. It was ugly, I'm not going to lie to you. And the worst part was knowing it was a mess of my own making. The girls would have been just find sans the food, drink, and fancy cart. Sure, Marianna might have said she was hungry and Adrienne might have reached her hand out to a box of crackers, but since when did that hurt anybody?

The self-induced torture was completed while we were checking out. The buckle on that dad gum seat couldn't keep Adrienne contained, and while she was taking advantage of the still cart to scramble out, the Icee was knocked out, right in front of a perfectly put together mother of two, whose knees weren't blackened from frequent encounters with the Target floor, and whose children were sitting, quiet and content in a normal cart. I scrambled to pick it up, and found that a small puddle of blue had leaked out. I looked around for anything I could grab to clean it, and of course, came up with nothing. In desperation, I grabbed the paper that I had written my Target list on, and got down on my hands and knees, again, to clean it up. We all know paper isn't absorbent, and unfortunately my embarrassing circumstances didn't change that fact. I was sincerely hoping that, just this time, the paper would do the trick. Sadly, it didn't.

Finally I escaped (but only after my cart gave me one parting stab by getting stuck against the register station) and by the time my feet touched the parking lot pavement, my three decisions were made.

1. I will never push that dreadful two-seater cart ever again.

2. Popcorn anywhere besides a movie-theatre is a menace. Stick to a sucker.

3. Icees will come in twos or not at all.

Those are the guidelines I will be living by for all future Target trips from now until forever. And even if they are not the best decisions for the month, they certainly come with the best story.

the zoo...

2010-01-23T14:41:00.011-06:00

is, among many things, a great place for camera experimentation! I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm enjoying pressing buttons and finding out through trial and error what works. One day maybe I'll feel competent behind a camera, but today that is definitely not the case. I'm trying not to become frustrated or overwhelmed, and instead to focus on the little victories. Like taking a picture that I can share with you that doesn't look half bad! Here are a few of my favorites from this morning's outing.

The last one is of my niece, Allie. This sweet little girl just found out she's a big sister! For Marianna and Adrienne, that means one more beloved cousin, and there just can't be enough of those.

the battle of the (in)dulge

2010-01-21T21:47:00.000-06:00

I love January. It always feels so fresh after the crammed excitement of November and December. I love how it inspires people to try and aim for better things in the year to come, namely in area of food and exercise. I remember several years ago when I worked at Starbucks the company went all out with a January campaign for fat-free, sugar-free, vanilla lattes. It made me laugh to think of the slightly hypocritic promotion department that had been cramming peperment mochas and white chocolate mochas and every other kind of indulgence down consumers throats for the previous months, now encouraging their loving public to drink responsibly.

January is a month to fight the indulgence from the year before. Did I waste too much time last year? Did I forget to exercise during the past 365 days? Did I get lazy in my relationships? Did I let the closets and junk drawers go to pot?

Any of that can change at any point, but there is just something about January. It's a clean slate, mentally if not literally, and it's as good a time as any to start. I don't think these things necessarily need to be resolutions either. Sometimes the word "resolution" is more of a set up for failure than anything else. But it is a time to aim for better, to set goals, to be more focused and less indulgent of our weaknesses.

There are couple areas I'm trying to hammer away at right now. The biggest item on my list is time. I realized how much time I was wasting with things that over time add up to a big fat zero. The internet, my black hole of time consumption, is probably the biggest culprit for wasted time, but there are other areas too. So instead of filling up my days with a bunch of distractions, I want to do more things that I look back on and think, "That was a great way to have invested time."

I was also inspired yesterday to prioritize organization! I'm not generally messy, but I'm big time guilty of letting my spaces (closets, drawers, storage bins) accumulate. More and more and more eventually adds up to junky, and there is just no getting around it: Organization require de-junking.

I have plowed through the girls closets, my closet, the play room, and most recently, my pantry! I'll throw pride to the wind and tell you that I found more than one item in the pantry with an expiration date of 2007 or before. And when I say more than one, I mean enough to fill up a 13 gallon trash bag. I knew it wasn't often that I reached to the back row of my pantry shelves, but goodness gracious! Some of that stuff must have been back there for upwards of four years. Oh my. Hopefully another half-decade will not pass before the next total pantry cleansing.

So there it is. Gut level honestly laid out for you all to see. I was not one to clean out pantries or closets, but that is true no longer! I'm trying to take an honest look, see where I've indulged in the past, and get to work to make it different.

Revving Up

2010-01-06T10:19:00.001-06:00

Slowly but surely, I am going to get into the swing of things this new year. I haven't blogged in about two weeks, and no, I haven't even thought of any good topic for today. I've been on overload I suppose. So much Christmas, family time, birthdays, New Year's celebrating, getting back into the swing of work, and house cleaning that the blog has fallen by the way side. Fortunately no New Year's resolutions were made regarding blog faithfulness, so none have been broken =).

I have thought about it now and again, if that makes it any better. I would in passing think something like, "When in the world am I going to put something on my blog?" and that would be it. My self-question was never self-answered. Then my subconscious took it one step further. I had a dream two nights ago that our house had been burglarized—a very realistic dream, I might add—and I distinctly remember in the dream thinking, "Well, at least I finally have something to blog about." But thankfully I woke up and found that while I didn't have a blog topic any longer, I did have a house untouched by vandals.

So where to start is the question. Since I'm stumped, I'm going to go with my friend Laurin's ingenius method for blogging when inspiration alludes. So here goes 10 things about our life in the past 10 days.

1. This year was the year of stockings!!! I am lover of stockings, while at the same time recognizing that my stocking days are in the past. But this year both my mom and Nathan's decided to go old school in the stocking department, which means Nathan and I loaded up on gum, candy, and gift cards! Such a fun surprise.

2. We loved having Nathan's brother, sister, and three nieces in town for such a long, wonderful visit!

3. Cousins every day for 10 days=2 very happy girls.

4. It also=sleep deprivation for both of those happy girls, which at times made them into unhappy girls. But it was worth every sleep deprived second, especially since all the lost rest is made up for now.

5. Nathan is now dangerously close to entering a new decade. He turned 29 on the 26th, and I love him more now—middle aged as he might be—than I ever have before!

6. I pick out just about all of his birthday presents, making it no coincidence that I often like many of the things he gets. This year is no exception, with Super Mario Brothers for the Wii ranking at the top of Angie's list of favorite gifts Nathan received for his birthday. We have already beaten the game and saved the princess, in case you wanted to know ;)

7. The Adrian Rogers Legacy Bible just came out, and I am so excited about getting to read through the Bible with so many of my grandfather's sermons and notes right along side. Such an amazing thing!

8. After having spent two years in a row beginning our New Year's eve celebration at Shogun, I think I'm ready to make it a tradition. We don't eat Japanese food any other time of the year, but on New Year's eve, it just seems to hit the spot. Plus it take two hours to finish the meal, and with a whole night to burn before midnight, why not?

9. I have run four measly times since the race. And with the temps as they are, I don't see that changing any time soon. Maybe February will be warmer...

10. Adrienne completed her maiden voyage out of her crib without assistance today. I'm anxious to see how that will change life from here on out.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T23:50:00.006-06:00

We've had a happy day, full with family and Christmas excitement from beginning to end. It was one of those years where everything just seemed perfect, making me want to lock all the memories away as they happened. To help me with that, I just happened to get a Christmas present that I'm more than a little excited about. A new camera!!!

I am so pumped.

I know next to nothing about it, but I was able to grasp the automatic function well enough to capture the day. I look forward to diving in later, but for now, here is a glimpse of Christmas.

I hope that no matter your situation, good or bad, the hope of Jesus was with each of you today. Christmas can just as easily be difficult as light-hearted, but Jesus is the same. I pray that His light will shine brightly in all of us as we finish out this year. Merry Christmas, and may God bless you each and all.

2009-12-22T15:20:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Marianna's musings

2009-12-18T08:31:00.004-06:00

Today I thought I would share with you some of Marianna's keener observations of late. She keeps me laughing on a daily basis, and I hope some of them make you smile too. Enjoy!!

*A few days ago Marianna and Adrienne were eating lunch in the car. Adrienne had already finished her chicken and she decided she would like to have some of Marianna's lunch as well. Marianna tried for several minutes to keep the sandwich out of reach, but Adrienne continued to protest. That's when Marianna decided to try a new tactic. I heard her announce: "Okay Adrienne, the person whose hand is bigger will get to eat the sandwich. (half second pause for examination) Well, it looks like my hand is bigger. I get the sandwich!"

No arguing that logic, right? Unfortunately, Adrienne wasn't satisfied with the full proof decider-of-sandwich method Marianna created, and the protest continued until the sandwich was gone =).

*Yesterday morning I let the girls each open an early Christmas present that came in the mail. Marianna was thrilled with her new microphone, but it turns out Adrienne was as well. Between the signing microphone and the screaming girls, the noise level was soon above operational. We sat down and had a talk about the right and wrong ways to respond to a toy being taken away, and with Christmas just a week away, I felt it was a much needed discussion. A few minutes later I asked Marianna, " What do I not want to hear on Christmas morning?" hoping to reinforce what we had just talked about. She immediately replied, "That Santa Claus isn't real!"

I had to stop and laugh. Yesterday we had also had a discussion, focusing on the fact that while Marianna does not believe in Santa, her cousins do, so any word to the contrary that would ruin Christmas for them would not be appreciated. So, yes, she was right. An exclamation of "Santa Claus isn't real!" is definitely not what I want to hear on Christmas. Among other things.

I tried again. "What else do I not want to hear on Christmas morning?" She replies in her meanest voice, "I hate you! I will never be your friend! I don't want any of my presents!..." And I cut that little tirade off right there. Yes, once again, she hit the bulls eye. None of those things would be music to my ear on Christmas morning either. I realized the open-endness of my question was getting me no where, so we went ahead and moved on. Hopefully, she will also remember, among all the other many examples she gave of what not to say on Christmas, that she will also not scream if her sister takes a toy from her =).

*The other day we were listening to a Christmas cd that I have in the car. One of the songs is Faith Hill's "A Baby Changes Everything", and as soon as that song finished playing Marianna exclaimed, "Mom, that song is just like me, isn't it? Because when I was a baby, I changed everything too." I responded, "Well, for me and your daddy, you certainly did."

If nothing else, we've given the child a healthy self-esteem, wouldn't you say?

So what has your child said today that has you rolling with laughter? I'd love to hear!

my Christmas loves

2009-12-16T11:58:00.005-06:00

Thank you to Ashleigh Peak for the beautiful work she did!

Christmas on the brain

2009-12-13T22:27:00.005-06:00

This is an action shot of Marianna pouring her heart out to Santa on Saturday night. She was ready, rapid fire style with her list: a Barbie with a fashion dress, a Barbie camper, and a Barbie necklace. It was all business as she discussed this with Santa, who by the way, she doesn't even believe in. But still, she feels it is an important thing to do.

Today Nathan shared with me one tidbit he had forgotten about last night's experience. During her bathroom break last night, Marianna evidently examined the contents of the toilet bowl and let Nathan know she felt it looked like a wise man's crown. I feel all of you will probably agree that when observations of that nature are being made it's safe to say that Christmas is on the brain.

a new trick

2009-12-12T22:56:00.010-06:00

To me, Photoshop is like the Bermuda triangle. I feel like once I step in, I might get swallowed up by the vastness of everything I don't know about it. It's scary, so I generally don't touch it.

But tonight I have broken through a barrier and peeled back a tiny corner of that vastness that has previously been untouched. Yes, I have learned a new trick, and I'm going to show it off.

The backdrop for my new talent is the Alpine Village, a wonderfully magical Christmas event at a local church that focuses on children under age 10. I was blown away by everything, from the 10 or so cottages the kids could go into to make crafts, cookies, candles, cards, and more, to the North Pole visit to Santa, to the live nativity, to the puppet show. It was really fantastic, and as you will see, the girls had a blast.

Here they are showing off their new ink.

Posing, angelic and frostine.

And there you have it. I've learned how to make a photo collage with my pictures. Nathan wanted to know if I thought the new discovery would revolutionize my blogging. Probably not.

But it is fun, and I do love new tricks!

Christmas Energy

2009-12-11T08:31:00.002-06:00

It's Christmastime again—or as Marianna calls it, Christmas days. There is no doubt it is all about the days to her right now as she take one little nativity character out of her advent calendar each day and puts it up at the top. For me they fly, to her they creep, but either way, one day at a time we are going through the days of December.

In these first 11 days, we've already witnessed around here what I'm sure you already know to be true: we all have a little extra energy to spend during the Christmas season. You all know that Marianna's Christmas energy led to eager and unrestrained fingers about a week ago, but whether we have a penchant for present spying or not, we all have extra Christmas energy that we use in some way or another. We decorate with flair, we bake with passion, we shop with determination. There just seems to be a little more "umph" in everything we do.

So the question is, where am I directing all of my energy this season? Last year I thought about this question a lot, and as I was thinking on how to purposefully use my energy, it became very clear to me how lazily I had used my energy before. In years past I had been no less busy, but it seemed I couldn't remember spending my time on many things that were truly important. Yes, I did a lot, but staying occupied isn't the point of Christmas. The point is remembering what it is really about and doing those things that help make Christmas more meaningful to you and those around you in your family, friend circles, and communities.

That's why last year I had a little campaign on my blog to "Take Christmas Back." It was my way of setting a goal to do something purposefully every day that helped me and Nathan and the girls remember what Christmas is really about. It was really, really wonderful to sit back and look at Christmas from a "how can I make it meaningful" perspective, and it's something I definitely want to do again this year, and every year.

The terrific thing is how easy and fun it is to incorporate little things into each day that help us focus on Jesus and His gift to us. Just keeping your ears open is a fantastic way to find places to go, things to make, and activities to participate that focus on the giving and not the getting. And the way things are going around here, I can tell we need that lesson more this year than ever before. So how have we kept little minds off of ripping into Christmas presents around here? Well, truth be told, we haven't =). But we have found some super fun ways to be actively involved in trying to give to others like Jesus has given to us.

On Monday night we had the privilege of being able to go back for the second time to the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home to throw a Christmas party for one of the cottages. Our fantastic connection class at church along with another wonderful class from Bellevue, joined forces to put together a dinner, presents, and lots of crafts and games for the seven girls in the cottage. It was SO much fun to get to visit with these amazing girls. And I mean that in the truest sense of the word. These girls blew me away.

That's just one example of the thousands of opportunities that I know are all around us, not only at Christmas, but all year long. I want to do, not for the sake of doing, but for the sake of taking advantage of our time, and using it to some things that are truly important. And coincidentally, those things also happen to make Christmas all the more fun and exciting and special to each of the members of our family. Focusing only on the presents leaves us feeling a little empty. Baking and decorating and doing only for ourselves doesn't automatically make us happy.

The true joy in Christmas I believe comes from looking at Jesus, rejoicing over His gift, and using that as the springboard for everything else we do this Christmas season.

What do you think? I'd love to hear some ideas from you on opportunities you've noticed or taken advantage of to make Christmas special this year.

The run

2009-12-05T17:16:00.007-06:00

is done!!!

This morning was the St. Jude half-marathon, the race that I have been looking forward to and training for all summer and fall. I didn't know what to expect, never having done anything like it before, but it was an experience I will not soon forget.

St. Jude is an amazing place, and getting to run for the kids was definitely special. One of the best parts of the race was when the course took us through the St. Jude campus and the different families came out to cheer. One in particular brought tears to my eyes. A little boy in a wheel chair, hooked up to tubes and covered in blankets, sat next to his parents, cheering us on. He was such an inspiration, reminding me that you can't run for a better cause.

When I hit mile 10, those three miles ahead of me were looking awfully long; by mile 12 I was on autopilot. But I had two wonderful running buddies and together we pushed to the end. The race finished in AutoZone park to a baseball stadium full of cheering people. I finished at 2:09:52.

After today I can confidently say two things: 1)I'm glad I decided to run in a half marathon. 2) I will never run the full 26.2. That vow was made around mile 13 =).

And of course, the best part was seeing the happy faces waiting on me at the end.

T-minus 2 days

2009-12-03T14:13:00.004-06:00

Anticipation, I am just about to kiss you goodbye.

You have been my constant companion these past four months, inspiring me, pushing me, keeping me going.

You've been a companion worth having because you have gotten me to the place I need to be.

But at 8:00 Saturday morning as soon as the whistle blows, you will be gone.

Because at 8:00 AM when the whistle sounds, the race will begin.

13.1 miles. St. Jude Half-Marathon. Here I come!

You Better Watch Out

2009-12-02T07:59:00.003-06:00

Since we are officially in the Christmas swing of things, I believe you can all finish the phrase. Those words to the classic children's song are supposed to serve as a helpful admonition to all children to be on their best behavior, because of course, Santa Claus is coming to town!

Maybe Marianna is not old enough to understand that, or maybe she just felt like those words were better applied to me. Here's what happened.

We put our Christmas tree up on Saturday. It was by far, her most thrilling Christmas decorating session to date. Every ornament she came across was like a reunion with her best friend. I can't imagine that she even remembered most of them from last year, but she talks a big game and I was beginning to think maybe, just maybe, she did.

The tree went up, the tree skirt went under, the star went on top, and no sooner were we done than Marianna was begging for a few presents to be wrapped and put under the tree. Her presents of course. Nathan, being the terrific dad he is, wrapped up three presents as soon as the girls went to bed and had them placed under the tree for them to see when they woke up. That was Sunday.

Monday morning, just 24 hours later, I'm in the kitchen when I hear Marianna saying, "Oh Mom, I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry! I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I run in and find her sitting in front of the Christmas tree, an empty box and shredded paper in front of her, a confused, but innocent sister beside her, and a hand behind her back, clutching the present she has just unwrapped.

Yes, I better watch out indeed. It seems that 4 is the age from which I will always have to be on the look out from the little Christmas eager claws of Marianna. I will now probably have to find better hiding spots and out of reach locations to hide the presents that evidently cannot go under the tree this year until Christmas Eve.

The hardest part? Not laughing.

Praise the Lord, for His goodness never ceases

2009-12-01T07:50:00.004-06:00

Today is December 1st, and in many ways it is the day that gives me more reason to praise God than any other because of what it symbolizes in my life. I praise God because I am a different person because of the past two December firsts God has ushered into my life. I praise God that through these two days specifically, and many others collectively, He has shown me that He is real, good, gracious, and loving. I know that more today than I used. I believe it more today, not because I didn't believe it before, but because I didn't have the capacity for believing it as deeply as I do now. God is good. He is always good. But this day highlights his goodness in my life like none other.

Most of you probably know that today is Poppy's 2nd birthday. It was on this morning two years ago that we got to meet the miracle that God blessed us with. I say that now, two years later, with conviction. We were blessed by Poppy. She was such a gift, although one I didn't always recognize in the months leading up to her birth. I saw the disease of trisomy 18 as the enemy. Now I see that in a way, it was her sickness that allowed God's glory to shine all the brighter. Poppy was beautiful, and perfect, and loved, by us and most of all by God. She looks down from heaven. From heaven! I don't believe that today she is sad because of the sickness that shortened her time here, and though I will always miss her, I am no longer consumed with sadness. This was God's plan for her, and His plan for us, and over the past two years God has graciously let me see even more glimpses of His perspective by showing me the big picture of how He uses our tiny baby to cast His light on the dark, hard places of different peoples' hearts.

That's why today is a day to celebrate and praise.

One year ago today, something else significant happened. God orchestrated something beautiful for us when He allowed Adrienne's official adoption day to be December 1, 2008. On May 29th Adrienne came into our home, but the law requires a six month waiting period before adoptions can become official. That is how it happened that last year, on Poppy's first birthday, we gathered at the courthouse to sign the paperwork that would make Adrienne a part of our family forever. Another reminder that God is good.

God is good, but not just because He allowed us to adopt Adrienne. Please don't walk away thinking God was only good because He did something for us. The truth is, whether we were chosen to be Adrienne's family or not, God is good. God is good despite the circumstances of our life. If you don't believe that, then believe me, you will go through circumstances terrible enough to make you doubt God. If you don't believe that God is good no matter what, then you will compare your life to the lives of others and walk away feeling God has not been very good to you. Please, please, don't believe that lie. Instead, I hope that you will see God is good, in the good and in the bad. Good because that is His essence. He loves us, He has given everything for us, and whether or not we are going through something difficult or coasting through on an easy road, He is good.

December 1 reminds me of that. That is why today is a day for celebration and praising.

I want to share with you again a few of the moments captured on film and video on Poppy's birthday two years ago. What we shared with her during those three hours, I will never forget.

hairiffic news

2009-11-30T09:49:00.006-06:00

Why in the world is Adrienne so excited?

Because of her "hairiffic news" of course!

Yes, having a first pony tail is definitely something to clap for.

Way to go, Adrienne!

thankful...

2009-11-26T21:31:00.006-06:00

Today I'm thankful...

*that despite the lack of desire from just about all parties besides myself, Nathan, his two brothers, and my new sister-in-law, Anna, participated in the first annual Luce family turkey trot, consisting of a scenic two mile jog through Lakeland. Maybe next year will add feathers to our outfits. I didn't want to press my luck today, for fear of total cancellation. But next year...

*for the salvaging of the maiden attempt of providing the rolls to the Thanksgiving dinner. Homemade rolls, that is. I've been responsible for picking up the package of Sister Shubert's plenty of times before. But this year, thanks to the inspiration of my Secrets homemaking class, I decided to go hardcore. That meant buying yeast for the first time in my life, and after only three trips down the baking aisle, I was very relieved to find it.

This morning I was in the zone, getting up to make the rolls first thing so that they would have time to rise two times before lunch. All was going according to plan, until 1 1/2 hours into the 2 hour rising process I saw we had hit a bump in the road. Namely that the dough wasn't rising and, in fact, looked more like soup that dough. "What could have gone wrong?" I asked myself as I stared at what was clearly not going to turn into anything that could be kneaded and rolled out in 30 short minutes. I'll tell you what it could be. It soon came to my attention that I skipped over one line of the instructions. The one that told me to add 2 cups of flour. Yes, that definitely makes a difference. Well, there was no time to start over, so mission salvage Thanksgiving officially began. I went ahead and added the missing flour, fully aware that yeast is finicky and the dough might not rise. But rise it did, and even though I have a feeling that the fluffy factor may have been damaged, the rolls themselves were edible and served with pride.

*that Nathan didn't fall off the roof today trying to look for the football he had thrown from the backyard, with intentions of hitting Micah, who was standing in the front yard. There was much talk of ladder positioning, roof steepness before Nathan finally mounted the ladder, willing to risk it all for the $10 ball from Wal-mart. It was then that Nathan's dad made the fortuitous discovery that the much worried about football was actually quite safe on the ground, hidden by a shrub, but very much on the ground.

*that at least one of my new culinary attempts went according to plan, and actually turned out to be Thanksgiving-worthy delicious. Carmel Pecan Pumpkin Bread Pudding. It's a mouthfull to say, but it's worth every syllable. For a pumpkin and bread pudding loving kind of a girl like myself, this was a little piece of heaven on earth.

*for two turkey-wearing little girls, a handsome husband, and a wonderful family (both sides).

*for Jesus. When you boil it all down, and take everything else away, there is Jesus, and He is more to be thankful for than I will ever have words to do justice.

So today, and all the others, I am thankful. Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday Makeup

2009-11-16T12:53:00.006-06:00

Whew.

What a week. It was totally wonderful and completely crazy. It was busy and it was meaningful. It was emotional and it was hysterical. And by the time last night rolled around, I was enjoying that wonderful, exhausted feeling that comes when you can finally let your hair down and relax after a whirlwind schedule.

The good news is, now I finally have time to tell you about it! So here we go.

Thursday: Day one of the Christmas Tea at Faith (my church!). My pastor's wife called me months ago to see if I would be able to speak and share our story, and I was thrilled. I remember over a year ago having a conversation with God, telling Him that I wanted Him to use our story to however He would, in whatever ways He wanted to. If that meant me sharing it, I wanted to do it. The story of Poppy is the story of God's faithfulness. It is the story that shows how amazing, how loving, how good, how powerful, and how all-knowing our God is, and if He can use me to share the hope I have in Him, I want to do it.

The night was beautiful, and I was so humbled to be able to have a part in it. The theme was "Jesus, the Light of the World," and I shared how God is the light that brings us hope for living, even in our darkest hour. As I retold so many aspects of our story, I was blown away once again by how God took care of us, loved us, and blessed us through the gift of Poppy.

Friday: I got to do it all over again. The Christmas Tea is a two night affair, with each night bringing in a new group of ladies. It was great.

Saturday: The big day. Marianna's 4th birthday.

But first, I had a 5k race to run. That morning I got up early before anyone was up and headed out to run with my friend Samantha. We got to the race at 8:15, thinking the race began at 8:30. But it didn't. It started at 9:30. The big bummer was that we had planned on running our extra mileage (we were supposed to run 8 to keep up with our training for the 1/2 marathon) after the race, but instead we found ourselves running 3 miles before the race started. Then we ran the 3.1 for the race. And then we ran two more. The really funny thing was that we both managed to get 1st place in our age divisions, even with the less than optimal conditions. So all in all, success!

In the meantime, Marianna was spending her birthday morning having a date with daddy. They had pancakes at Ihop before running over to the mall to go on the spider jump.

As you can see from the clip below, it involved some high-flying action, and the birthday girl loved every second.

And finally, the moment had come for the pink poodle party—the one Marianna started planning just two months after she turned three. It was so much fun, from the poodle cake, to the silly games, to the dog collars, to the poodle "paw"dicures. Marianna loved it.

There is no such thing as too much pink believe it or not, but if there was, we got awfully close to the limit =).

Genesis

2009-11-11T08:22:00.000-06:00

Two glorious weeks of weather.

Ahhh...

It has been amazing. No rain. No coats. Only glorious fall weather, begging for parks and zoo trips and bike rides. So what gets left behind? Blogging. And that is A-Ok by me. We'll trade in the nice weather for frequent updates any day of the year! I hope all of you have been enjoying the same.

The weather is supposed to continue for several more days, but I wanted to pop in from my weather break to tell you about something incredible we got to experience on Sunday and Monday. A man by the name of Ken Ham came and spoke at our church, teaching 7 sessions over two days. Have you ever heard of him? He is the founder of a ministry called Answers in Genesis, an organization built around the principles that the foundation of the Bible is built upon the truth found in that very first book.

We all have questions. I don't think we can be alive in this period of history and not have questions about many of the topics Ken Ham and AIG focus their attention. Do you ever wonder about evolution vs creation? How dinosaurs fit into the Bible? What the Bible says about the age of our earth? Was the flood a literal world-wide catastrophe? Where did all of the races come from? How do science and religion fit together?

All of these questions and more he discussed with compelling arguments and logic. He is passionate about those questions because he believes with all of his heart that they matter. He explained that many people who have a relationship with God say something like this, "Well, I believe that creation _____________ (fill in the blank), but it doesn't really matter." He argues that nothing could be farther from the truth. I won't be able to do his argument justice, although I wish I could, but let me say, if you are the least bit curious about really having some foundation for what you believe, or if you want a strong, biblical argument for any of these topics, you need to check out Answers in Genesis. His talks were some of the most vital I have heard on this subject. I wish everyone could hear him in person, but I do believe that all of the DVDs of his seminars are available, in addition to a wide selection of books and other materials.

Something else that he spoke about in great length was the Creation Museum. It's located up in Cincinnati, and it sounds amazing! The museum takes you through the pages of Genesis, complete with exhibits on dinosaurs, the flood, the tower of Babel, and more. It looks incredible, and as soon as the girls are old enough to go and understand what they are seeing, we're heading that way.

In other news, we here at the Luce household have a busy week in store, not the least of which involves a birthday for a certain soon-to-be four year old. In the midst of birthday preparations, there are race preparations for a 5k I have Saturday morning, and speaking preparations for a Ladies' Christmas Tea I will be sharing at on Thursday and Friday nights. I would appreciate prayers for the last item! So it will be busy, but a fun and exciting busy. I'm sure I won't check in before it's over, but rest assured that pictures of a pink poodlena birthday party are to come!

a head start: not always a good thing

2009-11-05T07:57:00.001-06:00

Halloween has become the new Thanksgiving, don't you think? In days past it seems like the Christmas decorations waited until black Friday, or at least until Thanksgiving was just around the corner, and talk of Christmas shopping was reserved for the four weeks counting down to December 25. Well, those days are obviously no longer.

Today as the girls and I walked through the mall, Marianna was quick to notice the glittery garland strung from the ceiling, squealing with delight about the beautiful decorations. I also heard djs on the radio talking about the numerous websites out there dedicated to Black Friday sales. You can evidently go to blackfriday.com, blackfridayads.com, blackfriday.net—you get the picture. And it's only the first week of November.

I'm sorting out how I feel about all of that. Every year it seems the advertising market stretches us a bit more, makes us feel a little more comfortable with Christmas music before Thanksgiving, decorations the day after Halloween, and the build up of huge sales weeks before they actually take place. So is there anything so wrong with that?

Not really. It's still my choice to decide when I will personally dive into the holiday bliss, but the early marketing steals away a little of the fun. How so? There's something of a let down in waiting until the day after Thanksgiving to really get into the season, only to feel like you've finally given in to the tide around you. Instead I wish we could all get on board together with one big giant unveiling of the Christmas season. An all of the sudden, BOOM, it's here and it's all around us kind of feeling.

It's the same with snow. What's better: Going to sleep with no snow and waking up to find a blizzard has come while you slept and left you with 2 feet of snow, or gradually throughout the day and evening watch as 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch builds up on the ground until finally, you have enough to go out and play in? I rest my case. Everyone prefers the overnight blizzard.

And that's what I miss about Christmas. I wish an overnight blizzard would hit the Friday after Thanksgiving, knocking us over with the Christmas joy and jump starting the season the right way. I'm all for capitalism, but I do feel the loss of what marketing has taken from me by exploiting these early November weeks.

Don't worry, it won't steal my joy. I will make my lament and move on. But still, don't you think Christmas would be just a little nicer if it waited and came when it should?

And just to show solidarity with my topic, I will post a Halloween picture of my girls. No red and green for us. Not yet. But it's coming =).

Reformation Day

2009-10-31T08:37:00.008-05:00

Did you know that's what today is? Reformation Day. The day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the All Saints' Church, an event that has since been credited for the spark of the Protestant Reformation. A pretty good day to celebrate, don't you think?

Better than Halloween in my opinion. We in the Luce household enjoy dressing up most days of the year, so of course October 31st is no different. Throw in a little candy to sweeten the deal? Well, let's just say we have a day that warranted Marianna going around to her little friends last night, grabbing them by the upper arms, and with a smile stretched across her face exclaiming, "Tomorrow is Halloween!" But there is something about celebrating Halloween that I don't like. To me, there is still so much evil associated with the day, so much darkness, that it doesn't sit right with me.

Of course, for the purposes of the little girls in my house, the extent of Halloween is getting to dress up in beautiful costumes, get loads of candy, and play with friends. And there's nothing wrong with one little bit of that. I just don't want to celebrate Halloween itself. So I like that today is Reformation Day. Something worth celebrating along side all of the fun that comes with October 31.

In anticipation of today, last night we took care of a few preparations.

We started in the kitchen, as Marianna exercised some superior skills with a tube of icing.

The finished product. Quite cute, I do believe.

And then we took care of our pumpkin. No carving for us this year. We went with the surprisingly cleaner alternative of pumpkin painting.

A very colorful finished product.

Today's festivities have not begun, but they will center around one Alice in Wonderland (or Allison Wonderland, as Marianna prefers) and her faithful side kick, Adrienne Bee. The big fun comes later this afternoon and evening. Trunk or Treating at church, trick or treating at home, and a birthday party for a friend to wrap it all up. Happy Reformation day indeed!

a series of disproportionate events

2009-10-26T09:28:00.005-05:00

This morning I'm back from a wonderful, and slightly wacky, weekend in Louisville, where we got the chance to visit our good friends, the Boevings. If you work with me on the title, you'll see that while nothing that happened was really unfortunate, things didn't exactly go 100 % as planned. Thus, disproportionate. Maybe not the best word, but definitely the most catchy.

Let's begin with my in-car entertainment. I had planned to use the 6 hour car ride from Memphis to Louisville to begin knitting a baby blanket for my new second cousin, Townes, who will be arriving in December. I've got mad blanket knitting skills, but my talent ends there. I can stitch row after row until I've got a square, but if you want something with a shape other than a rectangle, you've come to the wrong person.

I began knitting as soon as the tires hit the pavement, hoping to make big-time headway. Well, headway I made, but not in the direction I was hoping. I'm not sure how, but I soon discovered that the "blanket" I was working on was more like a full size bed spread. What's worse, after my first ball of yarn was up, my work in progress was only 3 1/2 inches long. What does that mean? About 100 balls of yarn were in my future if I continued on the path I set out on. So the blanket morphed into a scarf, and a rather long one at that. Just over 7 feet, if you want to know. It's lovely, if I do say so, but boy is it long. So much for the mad skills.

Next in the series of weekend adventures was a disproportionately hard hit to the head taken by little Aubrey Boeving shortly after we arrived. Adrienne was running around with the Boeving sisters, when suddenly Aubrey tripped and ended up falling headlong onto the corner of a chest with nothing to break her fall. The cut was deep and required stitches, so Nathan, Adrienne, Savannah, and I spent a quiet evening in the house while Aaron and Laurin took poor Aubrey up to the emergency room for three stitches. She was a champ the rest of the weekend, sporting her band-aid proudly.

On Saturday followed a disproportionately cold day for the fall festival taking place right next to where the Boevings live. Three very cold, but cutely costumed, kiddos tried their best to enjoy a frigid festival before we packed it up and opted for warmer in-door play. And just hours after that, I followed up our disproportionately cold morning with a disproportionately long run alone. Laurin, still recovering from laryngitis, couldn't go with me, making the 7.4 miles I did my longest solo run to date. The trees were gorgeous and the day had warmed up, making for ideal conditions for the run, but still, I missed her company!

Wrapping up the wacky weekend of a disproportionate nature was our drive home Sunday afternoon. The three hours to Nashville flew by like the wind, leaving us marvelling at what an easy drive we were experiencing. We even anticipated getting home ahead of schedule and cutting 30 minutes off of the 6 hour trip. But that was not to be. Two very long, very unexplained traffic jams had us pulling in at 7:45, nearly 8 hours after leaving the Boeving's house. Adrienne proved to be car-rider extraordinaire, but still, two periods of standstill traffic, each lasting longer than 45 minutes, in the distance between Memphis and Nashville? It's just plain disproportionate.

And so our series of disproportionate events came to a close. Or so we thought. Fast asleep after our weekend adventure, we didn't expect the little surprise our alarm system gave us around 4:00 am. I woke up to a rapid beeping sound, which we soon discovered was our alarm system panel on the fritz. Nathan thought it was shorting out, and this seemed to be confirmed when it completely lost power a few minutes later, appearing to be totally dead with no lit buttons. Oh, if only. No that little alarm panel was not dead or shorted out. Instead, over the next two hours the panel would activate, deactivate, make a series of beeping sounds, and power off. And then it would do it again. I still have no idea what's going on, and I'm a little afraid to open my doors since I'm not ever sure whether it has set itself or not. A little unnerving for sure.

But appropriate, don't you think? It completed our weekend very nicely. Now all I need is a nap to catch up from our wildly wacky series of disproportionate events.

Secrets

2009-10-16T06:57:00.003-05:00

Ready for a few kitchen fast balls? If a recipe called for a little lemon zest, would you know the exact tool to grab? If you were told to braise a piece of meat, would you be able to launch into action? If you had nothing but your bare hands and a stubborn glass jar, would you be able to get the top off without the need for reinforcements? My answer to all three of these questions would have been a big fat no a month ago.

But not any more. I am taking a class on Wednesday mornings called Secrets, and it has been revolutionary to my domestic skills (or at least has illuminated the fact that I didn't have all that many of them to begin with). The idea behind this class offered by Bellevue's women's ministry is to teach younger women the tricks and secrets to cooking and other domestic endeavors. Taught by some of the ladies of the church, it is both practical, educational, and fun! For example, this week we learned how to make four one-dish meals with a rotisserie chicken. The ladies even made the recipes for us to sample. You just can't beat that =).

This week's class also focused on organization. A guest speaker came in and shared some of her tricks of the trade for organized living, one of which revolved around a website called e-mealz.com. It was so amazing I thought it was a must share idea. This website, created and maintained by moms, is designed to make meal planning easy by doing the meal planning for you. Each week, seven complete, well-balanced meals designed to feed 4-6 people are available, along with the recipes, grocery list, and instructions. You literally just print out the list, and out comes one list for instructions and another for the grocery. And it gets better. You can plug in your grocery destination of choice, and the website will make sure that the meals for each week center around the specials your particular store is advertising that week. So if pot roast is on sale, one meal that week will probably be a crock pot roast. Pretty cool? I thought so. And it's only $5.00 a month to join!

I haven't gotten my membership yet, mostly because we just don't eat at home that many times a week, but I'm definitely keeping it in mind for the future. And if I hear of any more irresistible secrets, I'll pass those along too!

A few secrets of my own this week?

*Let the girls brush their teeth in the bath tub each morning. We kill the proverbial two birds with one stone, and potentially save an outfit from a red toothpaste fate to boot.

*Edit your pictures at home and print them off at walmart.com. The shipping fee is less than the gas it would take to drive to the store two times, not to mention the time and frustration of editing pictures with two kiddos in the cart!

*When trying to get out the door, get the kids ready first. That doesn't necessarily mean we'll be on time, but it does mean that it will just be me rushing and not all three of us. And trust me, that is infinitely better.

Last, but not least, tomorrow is the much awaited Christmas in the Valley crafts fair! I really hope to see some of you there. Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest! I am happy to announce that our winner, picked by random.org, is Karlye. I will get your book to you tomorrow!

lessons in self-discipline

2009-10-13T07:32:00.004-05:00

When I was in college I worked for Starbucks. To best juggle school, work, and marriage, I worked as an opener, which meant arriving at 5:00 a.m. to open the store and be ready for the first customer at 5:30. That wake up time, somewhere between 4:00-4:15, was scary at first. I had a hard time imagining that my body would really function behind a wheel or in front of an espresso machine at that time of the morning (or night, whichever way you look at it), but to my pleasant surprise it did. There was something wonderful about walking into a store where the smell of espresso hit you like a wave, waking you up gently as the caffeine seemed to seep into your pores.

I worked there for over a year before I graduated from college and took a teaching job, and the early wake-up habit proved to be one that stuck. For awhile. For a long time, waking up at 7:00 felt like sleeping in, and anything over 7:30 was unheard of. But over time and after children, all of that changed.

I happen to have two girls who are fantastically late sleepers on most occasions. In fact, on Saturday morning I got back from my run at 9:30 to find Nathan and the girls had all rolled out of bed just moments before. What that means is that I am virtually never woken up because of a child. I am the first one up.

There is a gold mine of opportunity in those morning hours before M and A are up, and I know that the possibilities of what can be accomplished in that time are unlimited. The problem is, I've gotten lazy. Knowing they will sleep has led to sleeping in a little later myself. And before I know it, that window of opportunity is something like a shrunken shirt: still there but too small to be of use. I want to change, but I've discovered wanting it, and wanting it enough to do something about it, are two different things.

If I get up with Nathan every morning at 6:00, that would mean at least 2 hours of uninterrupted time to get my day off to a great start. I could work, have my Bible study, do some cleaning, you name it! It would be amazing. Amazing enough that I decided last night that I was really ready to do something about it. I promised myself that at 6:00, I would wake up.

Well, I did indeed wake up at 6:00, but I discovered another important part of the equation that I had overlooked last night at bed time. I found out that I can be awake in bed for a solid hour before my body feels ready to move. Yes, I am speaking from this morning's experience. So lesson number one in self-discipline: swing those legs out of bed and get up! Consciousness from underneath the covers doesn't count.

Christmas in the Valley

2009-10-10T17:31:00.005-05:00

Christmas in the Valley is just around the corner, and we need your help to get the word out! To help spread the word, my sister, Rachel, asked me to do a giveaway for a copy of Poppies in December. I know that all of you don't live here and obviously won't be able to make it, but there is still a way for my out-of-town readers to enter.

To enter, you can do any of the following. Please be sure to leave a comment for EACH of the following that you do:

Become a follower of my blog and leave me a comment saying you did! If you’re already a follower, just leave a comment letting me know that you already are! (that way every reader can have an entry =) )

My sister is doing a vendor spotlight each day on her blog from now until Christmas in the Valley (Oct. 17^th). Go to her blog(http://rachelericandallie.blogspot.com) and come back here and leave a comment saying something you learned about that vendor (1 entry per vendor – you can earn extra entries for EACH vendor that you comment on back here – just be sure to leave a separate comment for each one)

3. Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment here saying you did to get an extra entry.

Winner will be selected on Friday, Oct. 17^th by Random.org

The comments on this post will stay open all week, even when new posts appear. I hope to see some of you next Saturday!

Lately... (with pictures)

2009-10-06T08:24:00.012-05:00

Lately...

One nearly four year old little girl has been a little Ariel crazed.

FYI, I'm happy to report that Ariel-in-a-box is now Ariel-out-of-the-box. And we all breathed a little sigh of relief for that.

Lately...

Our 16 month old little girl is not such a baby any longer.

What is she? Pure sunshine. Amazingly big. Brave, daring and independent. But definitely not a baby any more.

Lately...

Marianna has had a lot to smile about.

She has started ballet and art class, she is quite busy planning a pink poodle themed birthday party and praying for a little brother (one that is definitely not on the way), and she has discovered the joy playing the Wii with her daddy.

She also went to Disney on Ice.

Lately...

Adrienne has grown enough hair to be wind blown.

She has also grown a wild side and decided that nothing is to big for her. Even if mom has to come along for the ride.

Lately...

It's fall, and that means sewing! I have started on the newest set of outfits, with the first of several completed just last night.

Lately...

Life has been good.

Fall weather, playing with friends, enjoying all things outdoors. Life has been very, very good.

the vigilant eye

2009-10-01T07:38:00.006-05:00

Those of you who know me only through this blog may not know that I have a classic case of over-cautiousness, known also by the uglier moniker of paranoia. I prefer over-cautiousness =).

I was trained in this art as a youngster by my over-cautious mother, the one who would instruct my sister and I to hide under the bed with the phone, ready to call 911, whenever a strange man knocked on the door during the day. The same one who famously slammed the door on a man who later turned out to be a new neighbor bringing by doughnuts or something as a gift. I suppose the propensity toward due diligence (or excessive diligence) is something not easily shed.

I discovered this one night just a few months into our marriage, when Nathan and I were sitting in our apartment. We heard an unexpected knock, so I jumped up, looked through the peep hole, saw a very large man, and ran for cover. Keep in mind, our apartment was all of 600 square feet, which meant a true "hiding spot" was difficult to find. Making the best of my limited surroundings, I hid behind a wall and in an urgent whisper said, "It's a big, scary looking man. Hide!" Nathan, still on the couch, was by this time rolling in laughter. He jumped up, and despite my squeals of protest, threw open the door. The large man who had knocked just wanted to let us know that I had left the keys in the door when I had come in. Oh my.

I've tried to ease up since then, but if I denied having flare ups, I'd be lying. Like the time a police officer came to the door thinking our alarm had gone off and I wouldn't let him in because I thought maybe he had stolen an officer's uniform and police car. Or the time fairly recently when I was positive a man had followed me into Target. I really do think he was following me, but driving an alternate route home and passing our neighborhood once before doubling back, and staying up all night worrying that he had put a tracking device on my clothing was probably excessive.

This brings me to my most recent episode. Last Friday night I scheduled a hair appointment for about 7:15, and Nathan dropped me off so that he could take the girls to get ice cream while they waited. I walked in and noticed things were a little dead. In fact, I didn't see anyone else in the entire salon, but I figured that the other stylists were in the back. Wrong. Seconds later the man who had greeted me at the front desk took a set of keys out of his pocket and explained that he was locking us in since we were the only ones there.

Say what?!

As he walked me back to the hair washing station, I couldn't help thinking I was walking into a scene where crime was ripe for the picking, and I was the obvious victim. I kept a smile on my face, and non-chalantly pulled out my phone and sent Nathan a text with the message: be back in 15 minutes. Fortunately, I lived to tell about it.

So there it is. I have come to the place where I have to admit I err on the side of caution. I am always looking for things that look suspicious and trying to avoid iffy situations. A domestic Jack Bauer, wouldn't you say? I'll let you decide =).

Book News!

2009-09-27T23:03:00.005-05:00

I did it! With Nathan's help and superior skill, I navigated through lulu.com and self-published my book, Poppies in December. I really don't know what has kept me from doing this earlier, but now that it's done, I love it.

Lulu was really amazing. Everything about it was easy and straight forward, and the finished product is something I am very, very pleased with. If you are interested, you can go look at Poppies in December on lulu by clicking here.

Poppy's story is something I am so grateful for. Sometimes it seems more like a dream than a reality that she was really here, living and breathing for a short time, before going on to her forever home. But when I think about the transformation she brought to my life, when I remember her impact on so many hearts, and when I consider the ways that God uses her when I don't even know it, I am reminded that the reality of her life is no dream. It is a miracle.

God thank you for Poppy! Thank you for the blessing she has brought and continues to bring to our lives.

what makes the world go round

2009-09-25T23:44:00.002-05:00

Do you want to know something? I've been mulling the same subject over and over again for a few weeks now, wanting to share it but fearing that it would be too muddled to make sense. But of course now that I'm writing this, you'll have figured out that I have decided to try and share it anyway. So here it goes.

Do you remember the first scene in The Lion King? Surely you do, but just in case, it opens to Elton John singing "The Circle of Life" as all the animals come to pay tribute to the newly born lion cub. The zebras and gazelles and everything else are gathering, while the lyrics blare, "it's the circle of life, and it moves us all..." which of course is talking about how everything in the "circle of life" is a response to something else. One action leads to another, and another, and on and on it goes.

That's what's been on my mind. Not the animals, but the concept of response. Like the song says, everything in life is a response or reaction to something else. One thing happens, and that sets the course for the next thing to happen.

I was pondering how different my life would look if everyone I knew and interacted with treated me exactly how I wanted them to. See, I'm always giving myself a little bi on my behavior as long as I'm reacting to something that has been done to me unfairly. For example, someone does something ridiculous in traffic and almost costs me my life? Well, certainly I have earned the right to a little frustration and a hearty, "What were you thinking, Dumbo?!" as I drive by. Someone is a verifiable jerk to me? Doesn't that mean that I have every right to rant and rave a little before (or even after) I forgive them? In other words, is it fair to think I should have to react perfectly in a situation where it is because of something unfair that has been done to me that I am upset?

Well, I don't know about fair, but how about right? The fact is, there are a thousand things that happen every single day that we are going to react to. Some of those things are going to be very unpleasant, and undeserved, and sometimes, those things will be so deeply hurtful that it will be hard to function, much less react in the "right" way. It is familiar territory to us all. No one is exempt from being treated like dirt, from being judged unfairly, from being snapped at for no reason, from being betrayed by someone we trusted, from being lied about. And for me, it is after one of those moments that I am most likely to respond with my gut reaction: anger and hurt. I have justified my response over and over again, but it wasn't until recently that I began to see that maybe my reaction was more important than I realized.

I heard the other day something that confirmed this. What I heard was a quote from Ghandi that was something to the effect that he likes our Christ, but he doesn't like our Christians. Wow. And the ironic thing is, we are supposed to be the example of Jesus to the world. A poor example as a collective whole we are making. And it hit me that maybe part of it might just have something to do with our reactions.

Jesus was treated poorly, unjustly, despicably, and He always reacted in love. Never in anger or in hurt. And as a follower, He asks me to do the same. It's not like He doesn't know exactly how it feels to have to react to something completely wrong and unfair. He did that daily. He knows, and still, knowing how hard it would be for us, He calls us to a life that goes beyond reacting naturally to the junk that comes our way. He calls us to act supernaturally by letting go of the offense, giving up our right to lash out at what is done to us, and responding in love. Oh my goodness, nothing comes less naturally to me than that. But if it did, and if it came naturally (because of Jesus) to all of us, what would the world see? What would "Christians" look like if all the bad that came our way was met with love instead of anger? What if we weren't driven by what has been done to us, but instead we were driven by what Christ has done for us?

It's got to be one of the hardest things that Jesus calls us to do, and I honestly can't fathom being able to really do it. But, there's a good reason for that. I CAN'T. I'm no more able to do that on my own that I am able to walk a tight rope 1,000 feet in the air. It's one of those things that I really think is only possible when we let the Holy Spirit do it through us. That is what it means when the Bible says, Christ in us. It is His power giving us what we need to do the things that are so completely opposite of what comes naturally, that it is only through Him that it can be explained.

Easy, it is not. But I'm ready to start trying.

The Sound of Music

2009-09-21T11:09:00.007-05:00

Do you remember the first time you saw that movie? I can't remember the single first viewing, but the season of my life when this movie became a part of who I was is ingrained in my memory like a hand print in wet pavement. When I was seven my parents got divorced. We moved back to Memphis and got a little condo with no cable and no "rabbit ears" that I remember. We did, though, have a tv, a VHS player, and two movies: The Sound of Music and Ben Hur. Not your typical children's classics, huh? But children's classics are no, never have two movies been so loved. The Sound of Music especially was a favorite with me, and I knew it, every line, every song, every pause, from start to finish.

During that same year my grandparents took my mom and me to Germany and Austria with them and I got to take the official Sound of Music tour, visiting all the famous land marks (minus the gazebo which was under construction) and singing the songs virtually every where we went.

When I think back on my special love for the movie, it shocks me that I don't actually own it myself. I realized this the other day when my sister-in-law and I decided we would love the girls to be able to watch it together. We made a trip to Blockbuster, settled in with the big girls around us (Marianna has two cousins her age), and hoped they would love it as much as we did.

It was an instant hit, and we kept it all five days of the five day rental so that Marianna could watch "the children" over and over again. Since then, I have been hearing her little voice around the house piping out, "I am sixteen going on seventeen..." and I noticed that many of her dolls and animals now have the name "Maria." High time evidently for me to be getting our own copy so that she can learn each of those wonderful songs by heart.

I feel like this was one of my "firsts." I got to share something that was special to me when I was a little girl with my own little girl, and have her love it back just like I did. Oh, the wonderful things The Sound of Music brings to life...

Competition, anyone?

2009-09-18T08:32:00.004-05:00

When I was in the fourth grade, I played basketball for the first time. I knew nothing about it and I really don't remember much of the season except for one story that has been told so many times, it's almost like family folk lore. I had been given the job of throwing the basketball in from the sideline, and on one particular throw in, while the referee was holding the ball up at his shoulder height to make sure everybody was in place before giving the ball to me, I began leaping up, straining as hard as I could to try and grab the ball from him. My parents realized at that moment that even with as little basketball skill and knowledge as I had, when I was on the court there was nothing but me and the ball. Everything else was a detail. That's also when it hit them I might be more than a little competitive.

While that may have been a clue in moment for my parents, I actually knew it at least a full year sooner. In the third grade I sat next to a boy named Dustin. Dustin and I quickly forged a friendship based purely on our desire to race against each other on every single piece of classwork, quiz, or test to see who could finish first. This competition had the unfortunate side effect of extremely bad writing on my end, so bad in fact that in addition to having "chicken scrawl" stamped all over each paper, I also had to be taken out of class once a week for a neat hand writing tutorial. I can remember sitting in that library with the tutor thinking it was funny that she was teaching me how to write, when that wasn't the problem. I knew how to write well. What I didn't know was how to write fast and well. And writing fast was a whole lot more important than writing well at that stage in my life =).

Old habits die hard. I can tell you that the desire to finish first didn't really disappear through elementary school, middle school, or most of college, although the speed was tempered by the fact that I also wanted to do well (another facet of my competitive nature). I was a die hard for basketball, ping pong, and Dr. Mario nintendo, and getting beaten in any of those areas was a blow. This became especially hard after I started dating Nathan and about a year into our relationship he became better than me at the latter two items. I won't lie. There were more than a few ugly fights over a particularly painful Dr. Mario loss, including the first fight of our marriage.

I know, I'm weird. I would like to think that over time, maturity has tempered the competitive side, and in many ways I think it has. But then I have to take an honest look at how I feel when I lose coed volleyball (like I did on Tuesday) and I think again. Anyway, all of that brings me to last night. I am in the first week of my official 12 weeks of 1/2 marathon training, and the short run this week was 2 miles. I decided that I would take that short run last night and run it as fast as I could to start working on speed. I've never really tried to run as fast as I could before, and I can tell you it's quite a bit worse than normal running. I finished, exhausted and breathless, in 16:43. Why did I do it? Well I read yesterday on my good friend Laurin's blog that she just ran a 5k in an amazing time, and I thought to myself, "Time to step it up, my friend. Time to step it up."

So tell me, is competition something you embrace or is it a dirty word in your vocabulary? Share some stories! I'd love to hear them.

Christmas in October

2009-09-17T07:27:00.003-05:00

I know it's too early to be shopping for Christmas, so I'm embarrassed to tell you that I've already bought a present. It just seems shameful. No, I'm kidding—not about the present because I really did buy that, but shame is too strong a word. How about over motivated? Whatever the case, I usually try and wait to begin the glorious shopping season until the weather is at least seasonally appropriate, and that usually winds up being sometime in October. Not September.

But October is okay. It's still a little early, but I have found that if I go ahead and get some of it done before Thanksgiving, it gives more time for other things during those busy December weeks. You may be wondering, why all the philosophizing on timely Christmas shopping? By all means, let me tell you =). My sister, Rachel, has been busy the past month planning a Christmas crafts fair extravaganza, complete with 14 vendors, special deals, and lots of giveaways, that will be held on Saturday, October 17th from 10-3 at my mom's house (4822 Valley Birch Drive Arlington - 38002). I'm really excited about it because not only will I be participating with some kind of sewing and applique items, I also plan on getting some of my shopping done!

It will be a free event, and each and every vendor has promised to give a special one day discount. On top of that, there will be giveaways and door prizes all day long! I'm kind of hoping to win the free photo session from Ava Grace Photography myself. Just to give you a taste of what will be offered, there will be casseroles you can purchase for Thanksgiving or Christmas, children's accessories and monogramming, Christmas cards and stationary, frames, jewelry, makeup, house decor, and more.

My sister has entitled it Christmas in the Valley, named aptly for my mom's neighborhood where the event will be taking place. If you're in this area, we would love to have you come by! I am adding the event button to my blog, and I'm told anyone who does the same will have double entries in each and every drawing that takes place that day! In the comment section, feel free to ask questions, suggest a vendor that you think we might want to consider adding, or just let me know your coming. I think it will be fun =).

token time in Tennessee

2009-09-14T07:55:00.004-05:00

We are at church, someone passes us and says to Marianna, "Hi there, it's good to see you this morning." Her response? Nothing. We are at a party, someone comes up and says, "Oh my, I love your party outfit!" She hides behind my legs.

Have you ever been there with your kids? That stage where friendliness is like a disease they are afraid of catching. Marianna has always been a little slow to warm up to strangers, but she has recently used her reserve as a crutch that inhibits basic courtesy. I'm not aiming to change her personality, but I do want her to know that responding to someone when spoken to, and giving common, polite greetings is something that she needs to be able to do without telling me, "My mouth is just too tired to say anything."

Verbal encouragement alone has not been doing the trick. She says she'll be friendly, but then the moment of truth comes when someone actually says something to her, and she is diving for my legs once again. That's why I decided it was time to bring out the big guns, go all out, and give her the motivation she couldn't resist.

Awhile back I found a giant Ariel head, complete with makeup and hair accessories, on a huge sale in the Disney store. I went ahead and snatched it up for birthday or Christmas, and it's been tucked away in my closet for several months now. The only problem is that Marianna knows about it. She saw me buy it, and somehow discovered where I hid it, so she reminds me about it all the time. She'll say, "Mom, I sure can't wait to get my Ariel head! Is it for birthday or Christmas? I hope it's for my birthday because that comes first." Something about that just isn't right =). So since she already knew about it, I decided the Ariel head would serve its purpose better as a motivational tool than a long-known-about present.

Yesterday I laid out the plan. I sat Marianna down and explained the concept of the "friendliness token." These tokens can be earned for any acts of friendliness, and conversely, they can be taken away for acts of marked unfriendliness. I then told her that once she had earned 10 tokens, she would win the much anticipated Ariel head. I thought the visual would serve to get the motivational juices flowing, so Nathan ran and brought out the Ariel head and placed it in full view on the table. We told her that until the tokens were earned, the head stays in the box.

Boy has it worked. The "Ariel in a Box" has become almost like her siamese twin, the growth that never leaves. She carries it around with her from room to room, sits next to it on the couch, sleeps with it in her bed with her. She is a driven three year old, and she's laying the friendliness on thick. At church she went down the hall way saying hi and waving. At lunch she was nothing but smiles. I even let her earn a token last night with family, just because she is trying so hard. The first thing out of her mouth this morning was, "Mom! I have three tokens! Just a few more left until I get to open the box!" That was followed by, "Can you please go get Ariel in a Box out of my bed. I need to sit by her."

I don't know if it will last, but for now, outings where tokens can be earned are like candy. She is eating it up, and the shyness and inhibition that cripples her at times has flown out the window. I'm cheering her on, and if she keeps it up, I'm guessing she will have Ariel out of the box by sometime tomorrow. Motivation can definitely be a beautiful thing.

going to the chapel

2009-09-11T15:09:00.011-05:00

Last night we went to an engagement party for some friends of ours. Evidently it made an impression, because today, this is what I found on the staircase.

Puzzled? If you are, I won't tell Marianna because she would be awfully disapointed. After all, is there any mistaking that she is a beautiful bride about to marry her handsome groom?

The veil (a Christmas hand towel I made a few days ago) made her a certifiable "wedding girl."

The groom was chosen not only because of limited availability, but because of the jeans. Obviously.

The wedding had all the important elements: the processional and the dancing. In Marianna's eyes, you endure everything else for the enjoyment of those two essential aspects of the big day.

Oh, and showing off the ring. That's the third essential. She learned that last night.

embarking on something new

2009-09-08T09:02:00.001-05:00

Nathan and I (but more Nathan than me) are just about to leap into a new adventure at church. We have gone to Faith for two years, and during that time we have been involved in a wonderful connection class that we have grown in, been accepted by, and loved. But Faith has a philosophy that is almost like a trademark, that when we grow, we send out a new group and begin new things. We knew that applied to the church body in general, especially as it relates to planting new churches (Faith is a new church starting machine), but we found out that on a much smaller level, it also applies to connection classes.

We would have been great to sit fat and happy in our class for many, many more years to come, but when we were asked to really think and pray about teaching, we felt like it was something God was leading us to do. Not because we are spiritual giants, or excellent teachers, or because we have it all together. None of those things are true. But we felt like God was reminding us that He uses what He wants to use, not because we are perfect, but because since we are imperfect, He will be all the more obvious.

I can speak on behalf of Nathan and say this isn't exactly in our comfort zone. Some parts of the newness of it are scary. But it is also really, really exciting. We feel like God has laid on our hearts that this be a class where we can grow together in our relationships with God, be involved with our whole families in working in the community, and minister to each other through whatever life brings. For those brave enough to jump on board with a pair of total novices, we will learn together. We are so grateful for the people who have already committed, even before the first lesson, to be a part of it. A real step of faith for sure =).

This Sunday, our first week, Nathan is going to talk about, why is a class important? What is it that is so special about a connection class that makes it worth staying an extra hour in addition to the Worship service? What kinds of things happen best in small group that are much more difficult to achieve in the large group setting?

We have some ideas, but I'd love to hear yours! If you haven't ever been involved in a class, why not? What reasons have kept you from it, and what would encourage you to want to go? If you are in a class, what are you most excited about? What things do you think are most important and what keeps you coming back? We would love the input. And if you just happen to be looking for a class, the door is wide open and we'd love to have you stop by.

pulling my hair out

2009-09-03T22:46:00.003-05:00

Be forewarned, this is a very silly post with no depth whatsoever. It is about hair. I've been thinking a lot about hair lately, mostly because several months ago mine started falling out. First of all, let me say that was not an entirely new experience for me. Both times after having a baby, I would go through a season of shedding several months later. It was always a little alarming, but feeling like I knew the source, namely post-pregnancy hormone changes, I wasn't that concerned.

But this time around, when there was no pregnancy to blame for aimless strands of hair that were becoming my constant companions, I started to scratch my head. First I thought I'd just wait it out and whatever was up would no doubt work itself out. One week, two weeks, three weeks passed with zero improvement. It was time for a game plan to find out what was going on. Of course I felt silly being concerned, but I was starting to wonder how long I could stave off a trip to Wigs-R-Us. I scheduled a visit to my doctor—a huge step because I knew that meant the double whammy of blood drawn plus the embarrassment of such a trivial complaint—kind of hoping that they would tell me there was something out of balance so that I could start doing something to get back to normal. No luck. Healthy as a horse, with no noticeable reason for hair loss.

Next I turned to vitamins. Not because the doctor told me to, but because action is better than in-action. I figured, even placebos work sometimes, right? So I began taking a one a day multi-vitamin, knowing that even if it didn't help, it certainly wouldn't harm. Still no results.

I moved on to hair care. I had gotten up the courage to go get my hair cut, knowing that I would have to explain why my hair was dangling off the comb before the scissors had worked their magic, but it seemed like a great time to lay the pride aside and ask if they had any suggestions. The stylist's recommendation? Salon products. Even as she said it, I knew I really didn't buy it, but buy it I did. The Suave Professionals become Nathan's exclusive property, and it was Biolage for me.

In the meantime, I began treating my hair as if it were a 90 year old grandma. No heat from the blow dryer, minimal brushing conducted as gingerly as possible, no pony tails, and absolutely no tugging from little hands and fingers. I guess I was working under the assumption that gravity would be my friend and loose it's hold on my hair as long as I did my part to help it out.

I waited another week, giving the shampoo time to work its magic, before I ordered my hair vitamins. I don't know what in the world hair vitamins are intended to do, but at this point I didn't really care about the specifics, a fact the hair vitamin world is no doubt aware of. It was about this time that Nathan began to wonder how much my quest for a cure was going to cost him, but I was going on two months of the weirdness and it was taking a toll on my psyche, a toll that I felt was worth paying for. The vitamins arrived, bumping up my total vitamin intake to three pills a day. A record for me. At the very least, I was feeling healthy because of the sheer quantity of vitamin intake =).

So how did it all end? Not very spectacularly. Gradually, the hair loss stopped, leaving me to ponder whether the change was induced by my intensive hair care regimen or if it was simply the result what I suspected all along, an unexplained season of hair loss that auto-corrected. I'm nearing the end of my vitamins and my shampoo is beginning to make that almost empty gurgle ever time I squeeze, so I suppose I'll find out soon enough if that fount of El Dorado was really what it was cracked up to be. I'm guessing, and hoping, that it's not =).

So how about you? Any similar stories with similar outcomes? Maybe, maybe not. If there are a lot of you running around out there with shared experiences, none of you ever told me before hand, or maybe I wouldn't have been quite so concerned =). The truth is, every time I told someone they usually raised their eyebrows and offered up deep looks of sympathy. Not exactly encouragement I was looking for. But now, with a full month or two of hair free symptoms under my belt, I can look back with humor and smile at how the frustration of hair loss nearly led me to pull out my hair.

prayer

2009-08-31T23:06:00.001-05:00

Nathan has had a love affair with airplanes as long as I've known him. His dad is a pilot, and he grew up with a passion for planes that didn't fade with childhood. Although I think he really would have liked it, Nathan did not become a pilot himself, but instead he studied to be a civil engineer. There wasn't any obvious connection between his career path and his love of planes, but God saw fit to allow an unlikely union of those two things to take place when, just over six months ago, Nathan became a proud employee of the Memphis airport in the development department, which just happens to be made up of a lot of engineers!

Since then, Nathan has been an avid explorer of all things airport. He has gone from department to department, learning what each one does and getting a feel for how the airport works together to function as a whole. I have been the sub-beneficiary of all of this knowledge, gleaning the information second hand over dinner each night. Since my knowledge base was non-existent when he started the job, it's no exaggeration to say my current understanding of airport functions has grown by leaps and bounds.

Sometimes some little snippet of airport info is especially interesting to me. Like when I found out that the airport has its own on-campus fire department. I really had a hard time digesting that as I confirmed with Nathan that the fire department, located airport property, existed for the sole purpose of dealing with airport fires. That seemed so shocking to me, mostly because I realized these guys must go years at a time without ever getting called for one fire. Keep in mind I know nothing about what this particular set of fire fighters does on a daily basis, but it seems to me that not having regular fires to keep you busy would lend itself to a constant struggle against becoming complacent. It has got to be difficult to stay alert, ready at a moments notice all the time, when things appear to be tranquil, steady and under control.

I was thinking about this last night when I met with a group to pray for someone who is in need of some prayer warriors to step up on his behalf. The man leading the group spoke with a passion for prayer that I have rarely heard, and his words were alive, both with the truth he was speaking and the solid belief behind every word he spoke. God used him last night to remind me of a lot of things, not the least of which was the importance of not becoming complacent in the season of life I am walking through right now.

It is shocking to me how easy it is to glide into a comfortable pattern of minimalism in my relationship with God when there isn't a crisis to keep me totally, 100% leaning on Him. I am enjoying so many things right now: my kids, my marriage, my job, my friends, my church, my hobbies. All wonderful things to be grateful for, yet also so much to take me off my guard and reduce my level of urgency about things that need to be seen as exactly that, urgent. Like prayer.

I am so grateful to be reminded about the absolute necessity, not just of a quick few minutes of prayer each morning to start the day, but of serious, time investing periods of prayer. I was reminded that even though all of the public prayers of Jesus recorded in scripture are very short, He took long periods of time to get away and pray privately. In he midst of His very, very busy public ministry, Jesus took the time to pray. I needed to be reminded of that, especially now in this particular season, so that I don't become naive enough to get to the point where I imagine I can get by with a surface level prayer life.

The fact is, a surface level prayer life is never going to cut it, because no matter how the pie is sliced a relationship with God without the vital element of prayer firmly in place is always going to fall short what God intended for us. Boy, do I have a lot to learn in this area. I have seen some amazing things in regards to prayer in my time, but still, there is so much I'm lacking. I was challenged last night to make the next month a time of serious, life changing prayer, and I am taking that challenge. Over the next month, I am asking God to show me things about prayer that will transform my understanding of it in a way that will take me deeper than the surface level, out of complacentcy and into power.

What are the odds?

2009-08-28T08:42:00.003-05:00

Marianna is a lefty. 100%, totally, without exception, she uses her left hand for everything. Even from a young age Marianna's preference was pronounced. Never would she color or use a spoon with her right hand, even if that is the hand I held it to. She would grab with her right, switch to her left, and proceed as normal. But what in the world are the odds of Adrienne following in her sister's footsteps? I have no idea what the odds are, but the liklihood of it happening appears to be about 100%.

I've noticed some telltale signs, but this morning I conducted what I consider to be the ultimate test. Adrienne was coloring with her left hand. I took the crayon away and put it in her right hand. Adrienne looked up at me, stared me in the eyes for a second, switched the crayon back to her left, and continued as normal. Exactly like her sister.

Two lefties. How weird is that?

genetic connection?

2009-08-26T13:25:00.006-05:00

This past weekend Nathan's younger brother got married in Maryland, so it was off for a wedding weekend of fun for us. Marianna and two of her cousins were quite possibly the three most eager flower girls of all time, fulfilling their walking down the aisle duties with all the flair, smiles, waves, and grace that can be imagined.

But a few hours before the wedding, Olivia, Marianna's oldest cousin, received a birthday present from her grandmother (the grandmother her and Marianna do not share) for her 5th birthday, which is later this week. She got an adorable little raincoat and umbrella. Marianna was visiting her cousins' hotel room when the gift was presented, and although I wasn't there, I am told she took quite a liking to the gifts. So much so, in fact, that she went up to Mrs. Rome (Olivia's grandmother) and started a casual conversation that went something like this:

"Gran, (she calls everyone by their grandparent name, regardless of whether or not they are actually hers) my birthday is going to be on November 14th. I am having a family party, and you are welcome to come and bring me one of those?" (gesturing to the aforesaid coat and umbrella)

You recall my last post on etiquette? I believe that in every rule book out there, requesting presents from near strangers is taboo. Which really has me pondering, is there a genetic connection? =)

Etiquette and Decoupage

2009-08-25T07:40:00.005-05:00

Those two things have nothing in common but their french sounding origins, just in case you were hoping for a deeper connection. But I have both on the brain, so I'm going to launch into this french themed post without further delay.

First, let's begin with etiquette. My brother-in-law got married this weekend, and being immersed in all the wedding minutiae reminded me that I'm not a great one for etiquette. Not that I don't like it or think it's nice, it's just not that important to me, and I know that lack of importance makes me a frequent violator. I'm fairly sure that sometimes I violate without even being aware of it, and then at other times I break etiquette simply because it slips my mind to do something I'm aware that I should be doing. Does that make sense? In other words, I don't frequently do something that will intentionally break etiquette, but since it's not something that ranks high on my priority list, I just forget about it. For example, I know that it is always good etiquette to write a thank you note for a gift, even if you received it in person and already thanked the person. I do it because I want someone to know I'm grateful and I don't want them to be offended, but I know without a doubt that there are times I've missed a note here and there. Last Christmas, for example, I found all the thank you cards I had written tucked away in a drawer, awaiting to be stamped and addressed. It was early February when I found them. But flip the coin, and I can honestly tell you that it is not important to me to receive a thank you card for something we've given. I always enjoy getting one and appreciate the thought behind it, but I never keep up with whether I've gotten one or not. It's just not that big of a deal.

What's most important to me is that I don't offend people to whom etiquette is more important. I never want to hurt feelings or irritate someone because I did not place enough importance on doing something correctly. At the same time I don't want to let etiquette rule my life or be the driving force behind why I do what I do. What do you think? Where is the healthy balance?

Now to the second, and completely unrelated except for the french origin, part of the post. My sister, Rachel, is now a stay at home mom, and the time at home has been the perfect breeding ground for her creative genius to flourish. She comes up with new projects and crafty creations just about every week. This week's, as you can probably guess, was decoupage. I have never dabbled in decoupage before, but having now completed two frames, I am sold! I loved it. I was able to make frames with scrapbook paper, a little paint, and glue. That's it! I have got to say that I'm really happy with how it turned out!! I can't show you one because it's a birthday present for someone who cannot have a sneak peak at her present, but I will show you the one I made for Marianna's room.

Rachel is interested in selling some of the stuff she is making at a crafts fair closer to Christmas, and I told her she needed a name for the business. I suggested E.L.K. Expressions, with the E.L.K. standing for all of our last names (my mom included). I was outvoted =). Some how that didn't have the ring they were looking for. Instead, I believe the new moniker will be Graceful Gifts. Simple, cute, and according to Nathan, more appealing on every level.

a sneak peek

2009-08-19T23:33:00.006-05:00

Okay, the room isn't totally finished, but there's enough done to give you a sneak peek of the total bedroom makeover. I wish I had before pictures so that you could see the shade of pink we were dealing with before, but since I don't, you're just going to have to trust me if you have never seen for yourself, it was bright. I thought for sure I was going to have to prime the walls first to cover up that pink, but I decided to try Behr's paint plus primer to see if that step could be eliminated. Would you believe that it worked like a charm! That room, so very, very pink before, is now like a cloud of pale pink cotton candy, easy on the eyes and tranquil to the soul.

With a big thanks to our friends Jeff and Adam, the dollhouse bed is now a permanent fixture of our household. Marianna, exhausted from a day of trying to help me paint but never actually being allowed to, fell asleep on our last run of the day to Home Depot, so she has yet to see the bed up in her room. That should be a fun surprise for the morning.

But even before the little room-dweller's eyes have taken it in, here are the pictures of her new abode for you to enjoy.

what have we been up to?

2009-08-18T22:48:00.013-05:00

Since getting locked out of cars, we have been enjoying a more conventional style of fun, starting with the our first baseball game of the season. I'm firmly convinced that AAA baseball exists for the sole purpose of providing the baseball "experience" for the cities that don't have a pro-team but still want to have a shot at cotton candy and foul balls, and that is exactly what the Red Birds do for us Memphians.

The baseball game gave us an excellent backdrop for a little cotton candy,

an adventure ride with dad,

the adrenaline buzz that followed,

a photo session with Rocky the Red Bird,

some play time on the play ground,

and a little wind down time before the big firework finish.

An Elvis tribute and a fireworks display wrapped up the night with a bang. It's Elvis week here in Memphis, which mostly just gives me a minute's reflection to remember that I know almost nothing about the man who has put Memphis on the map. I have never been to a vigil, intentionally listened to an Elvis song, or even visited Graceland (and believe me, if that sounds shocking to those outside the Memphis boundaries, I'm not the only one!!). But I did enjoy the fireworks and the tribute, and from the amount of dancing going on in the chairs next to me, I'd say the girls did too.

What else have we had up our sleeve? Adrienne's teeth have come in, restoring her to the blissful, easygoing, easy on Mom kind of girl she is. Marianna has started back to school, in our own at home kind of way, complete with her first art lesson from Rachel. Nathan has completed his first 6 months at his new job at the airport just in time for his vacation probationary time to end so that we can take off on Friday to fly to Delaware for his younger brother, Gregory's, wedding. And I have started a book that I think I'm going to very much enjoy called Same Kind of Different as Me, that came highly recommended and is so far living up to the praise.

In a nutshell, that is more or less what we have been up to, but I have saved the best for last to end here with a big finish. Today I happened to look on craigslist for no real reason at all, and I stumbled across something pretty amazing (I would say my best craigslist find ever, but since all I have to put it up against is my jogging stroller, that wouldn't necessarily be saying much, and I want to make it clear, it was a GREAT find!). I have been wanting bunk beds for the girls for when Adrienne outgrows her crib, but I had not started any serious looking since that time is still probably nine months or so away. But when I came to a listing for a "doll house bunk bed," I had to give it a look. When I clicked on the picture, I was sold. I haven't seen anything like it before, but it was so whimsical and fun I fell in love. See what you think.

Nathan and our friend Jeff are going to pick up all 440 lbs of it tomorrow. I'll have to paint Marianna's room—which is now the most unsubtle shade of pink known to man— something a little tamer, like maybe pale green, or pale pink, or pale lavender, or any shade that doesn't seem to be screaming at you when you walk in the door. This must be done before we get it assembled because Nathan said, once it's up, it ain't going anywhere, and I certainly can't blame him there. There is no denying it is on the large side. But it won't be long before Marianna will be enjoying a bunk nook in her doll house bed. Hers will be the window view, just in case there was any doubt. Adrienne, some time in the not too distant future, will take the bottom, and hopefully they will love this bed and their adventures in it for a long, long time to come.