she's here & #5

The long awaited American Girl Doll is here.  Grace has saved up her hard earned money for this and with money from Grandma and Kapaw, she made her goal. 

Please welcome... Grace Marie (#2)

She looks like Grace, freckles and all.  So why wouldn't she be named after her Momma? :)

Grace is in love.

Another big thing that happened this week to our girl is the loss of tooth number 5!  The tooth fairy delivered, she is ecstatic.

bird watching

I heard the girls squealing with delight and came into the kitchen to find this.  He was VERY seriously bird watching.  I called out his name, he didn't move.  He was intent to sit there and watch that bird until it moved.  Once it flew away he was back to his normal self.  :)

snow day #1

I didn't have to wonder long did I...

I let my girls out on the deck today.  The wind and temps are wicked but they braved it for a whole 10 minutes :).  I felt bad, Grace's snow suit and boots did not even begin to fit her.  Trying to find these now might be a challenge.   She was a trooper, she L.O.V.E.S the snow.  Sarah is mildly attracted to it, always has been.

Art got to work.  What normally takes him 45 minutes turned into 2 hours.  Now to pray him home safely for the evening. 

a request for mashed

The other night I made mashed potatoes.  Grace has been asking for these ever since we had them at Thanksgiving.  She was so thrilled she even had a serving of them for a treat after our meal.  She's crazy for mashed tators!

more to come

Last night we ordered something for Grace she has been clamoring about for quite awhile.  She has scrimped and saved for this.  Can you guess what it is?  It will be here soon.

More to come...   :)

i'm beginning to wonder....

I'm beginning to wonder...

if it will ever snow here this January, forecast doesn't look promising

why my clothes washer is making that clunking noise

why I can't live closer to my parents

why people choose grief over giggles

why my Christmas amaryllis STILL hasn't bloomed

why I can't keep up with my laundry (may have something to do with #2?)

why I'm stumped on how to move forward in scrapbooking

how to juggle my family, church, job, home (this is ongoing)

how to get the meatball stain out of Sarah's shirt (again could be related to #2)

in what ways I can show love to my in-laws this new year

how to help prosper peace in my extended family

how to make Disneyland a reality this summer

how to serve in my church

why my computer is SOOOooooooooooo slow

why I'm not happy with my hairstyle

how to make a chai tea latte with less fat but still keep the o-o-yummy-ness

why after 9 faithful years my hair dryer pooped out on me (couldn't it make it to ten?)

why I bought the new Steven Curtis Chapman cd and haven't even opened it

why being gluten free has to be so hard on my 5 year old

will my vaccum cleaner continue to work through 2012

how can I document life without feeling stressed doing it

why I'm having issues with appliances lately

how it's January and I've already fallen behind on my devotional reading

what types of veggies I want in my garden this Spring

why I never took to the piano or any other instrument

why Truman makes a new face at me and why I can't understand what it means

why Spring break is so far away

That's alot of wondering for one day.

sarah-ism

Sarah was sitting down to do her homework and asked if a particular page was where she needed to be.  I asked her to bring it to me and I would help.  She says: "I'm incapable of reading you know."  I laughed, she gave me a "Mom you've gone crazy look."  Big word for my Kindergartner.

youngest/oldest

Youngest cousin, oldest cousin.  I love how they bonded this Christmas.

a favorite gift

I have fallen in love with hot tea.  Art got me this clever tea gadget called the ingenuiTEA for Christmas.  Along with it he gave me a package of Christmas Chai tea from a newly found tea shop at a local mall.  It is licious!  My normal is a plain chai tea latte but for extra comfort (and after chasing 13 preschoolers around all day) Art will sometimes add some whip cream and cinnamon on top.  I like it both ways!  I highly recommend. 

2011 & 2012

As I sit here typing my hands grow more and more chilled.  The weather here in MO is being fickle this week.  Tonight it's supposed to be in the upper 20's.  Tomorrows high is going to be 47 degrees.  Come Friday it will be a balmy 67 degrees.  See what I mean about fickle?  It messes with my sinuses making me wish mother nature would make up her mind. 

We've had no snow which I did miss at Christmas but overall I'm okay with.  I truly hate driving in the stuff, still haven't found my confidence in it since the wreck of 2010.  It doesn't help that I live out on a county road that doesn't see a plow as much as needed.  Tis' the joy of living in the country :); its only downfall in my eyes.

2011 is gone.  I am glad.  It was a rough year.

Wreck.  My parents were in one in April. A young woman, driving drunk, headed down the wrong side of the highway took away my ability to forgive - at least her.  I know it's not right but it is what it is.  God made me to be imperfect and in this I fail.  I have a deep desire to forgive but haven't gotten to that place yet.  I've seen the hurt and harm her actions have caused, I continue to see.  I get angry.  I feel for her parents, remembering their sobering cries as they watched over her in the hospital, two doors down from my parents.  What a parent must go through at those moments?  I cannot fathom.  I do pray for her, for change in her life, for her to think about her choice and not repeat it.  It is what it is for now.

Cancer.  I hate that word.  I've heard it alot this year. It hit close to home with Jonica being diagnosed with breast cancer.  I spent some nights crying, praying over my friend.  She is beautiful in every way and even in typing this she will probably humbly deny my compliment.  She is giving, loving, everything a friend should be in fact during her treatment she took care of me.  She listened to my woes about my parents, about my health, she was a constant and I hope I was the same for her.

Health.  Tests done, more tests ordered, no answers, anxiety over it all.  Answers finally from a hollistic source.  I've felt old this year.  It kind of shakes you when you don't have answers and you just feel crummy.  It made me look at my life, how I handle things, how I love my family. 

Gluten.  Who knew one little word could throw our household into a frenzy.  We had many answers to issues that Sarah has been having for a long time.  Gluten was the big one.  I researched, read blogs from other mom's trying to find something their child can and will eat. 

Family dynamics.  Trying to understand.  Praying over my siblings, asking for guidance in how to move forward, how to love them.  It hurts.

2012  Last year I didn't make a resolution.  Well if I did I can't remember it :) and I didn't document it here.  I'm getting to the point in my life I don't find it helpful.  Mostly because I either follow through halfway or all together forget about it.  Frustates me.  I don't need such frustrations.

For 2012 I hope and pray for peace.  Peace for my immediate family.  For my parents.  For my siblings.  For my friends.  For my church.  For me.  I was relying on myself to make my resolution happen when I should have been laying it all down at God's feet, praying, listening and following.

Peace, sounds divine.

Happy 2012 friends.  Peace out.