quiz

You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal. A good listener, you excell at helping others in practical ways. In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music. You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for. You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist.

What's Your Personality Type?

A thousand words...

This is Jane's new doll... or is it Clara's new drool wrag?

Tennessee Teeth

I don't know who's child this is, but someone needs to teach her to brush her teeth... or maybe just to stop eating the black crayons!

the Light

So... I was making mac and cheese for the kids today, and Janie says, "Mommy, I see Jesus outside, right there" (she points out the kitchen window). I asked her if she was pretending and she said "no". Then she asked me, "Mommy, isn't Jesus the Light?" I wasn't sure how to explain that one. It's a pretty abstract concept. What I did say was that Jesus is the Light, but not exactly the same thing as the light coming in the window.

Happy Birthday Janie!!!

Today Jane is 3! It's hard to believe she's that old already, but time really does go by quickly when the kids are little. Here are a few pics of the castle cake and the birthday girl. I'll add more as the day goes on.

a wrench in the works

There has been a disgusting, violent gi virus going around our church and it hit me on Saturday night. Childbirth aside, I don't know that I've ever felt worse. Severe vomitting and other unmentionables from 10:30pm to 5am, followed by 24 hours of stomach pain, body aches, and nausea. Too much pain to sleep for very long and too much nausea to eat. Ugh. Yesterday (Day 3?), I felt well enough to get out of bed twice and to eat some ramen noodles. I also discovered these lovely Thai noodles that Matt found at the grocery store. They really hit the spot.

Most of the time I was sick, I laid in my bed thinking that I should be learning something from all of this. One thought that kept coming back was that there are Christians who struggle with pain and sickness for their whole life. What a struggle. I am so incredibly thankful for my health and the fact that Matt was home on a three-day weekend when I got sick.

The bummer is that Jane's girly birthday party was planned for Monday, and we had to cancel it, just in case this spreads to the rest of the house before the week's out. I don't think we'll be able to reschedule either. We'll just do a family thing tomorrow, on her real birthday. It's a good thing that she's so little, because she's blissfully ignorant anyway. :)

Crash...

I think Clara may need to wear a helmet, full time. Right now she has a total of 4 big bruises and one cut (but healing) lip. She has an overconfidence problem. If there is a chair in the middle of the room, she thinks to herself, "I can climb that... no problem." Before I even notice that she's stopped playing with her toy, shes standing on a wooden chair in her slippers, about to topple to the hard floor. Sometimes I am able to save her, but most of the time she knocks her head on the floor before I can catch her. At bath time, she tries to climb out of the bathtub and she wacks her head on the side of the tub, or on the floor, as she launches herself out of the tub like a torpedo. This is long-winded. Sorry. I'm looking for suggestions. What do you do to downplay the knocks to the head on an ambitious 1-year-old? Helmet? Padded room?

She'll probably be the first child of mine to break a bone. Do you see the big knot on her head in the picture? Ouch.

the miracle of exercise

I've had a little trouble losing the rest of my pregnancy weight this time, especially in the middle. My third pregnancy was a doozy. I felt like my belly would fall off any minute. So, I guess it's no surprise that I'm fighting to fit into my pants.

I've wanted to go to Curves or the Y, or something like that for awhile. I just can't justify spending the money, or uprooting the kids to take them to the Y. Our lives are already busy enough. Sunday night, Matt had an idea that I feel really good about. He suggested that I prep dinner ahead of time and take a good long brisk walk as soon as he gets home from work. 3 out of the last 4 days I have done that and I love it. Usually by the time Matt gets home, I'm in need of some alone time and this is a perfect combo of alone time and exercise. I listen to a podcast by Focus on the Family or something else that's edifying and I walk my butt off (ha ha).

The unexpected bonus has been that I have more energy and a better attitude than I did before this new plan. I feel so much better. Looking back, I think I was fighting some mild depression, due to being cooped up. Go figure. So maybe if I don't lose any weight, at least I'll feel better.

What's really funny, is that I don't really have any hip exercise gear, so if you see me walking down St. Elmo Ave, please don't laugh at my goofy get-up, at least don't let me see you laugh. You can laugh all you want to when I'm not around.

a long entry

I've been reading a book by Rose Marie Miller, called From Fear to Freedom. I've never taken the Sonship course, but it seems to be a glimpse at Sonship themes. In it, Miller shares her testimony of her mid-life crisis and how God changed her as she dealt with her own shortcomings and the way she let down people she cared about.

This really hits home for me, because I'm such a people pleaser. When someone doesn't like something about me, I feel stifled and bitterness grows deep inside me. Sometimes their dislike is warranted, sometimes it's unwarranted, and sometimes it's in my imagination. I have a very hard time being okay with who God has called me to be. A good example of this is my house. Our house is a huge blessing. We bought it for very little money and we've been able to do all of the work on it out of pocket, thanks to my handyman husband. When we sell it, we will make almost triple what we payed for it. The hard part is that progress has been slow lately, due to our three little ones. In addition to that, we have never had the kind of income required to buy nice furniture. With the exception of our dinner table (an Ikea deal), everything is of low quality or a hand-me-down (three times over). I should be thankful. I have a warm, cozy home that we own, and we constantly have loved ones in and out of it. God has used our home as a haven for people we love, and yet I find myself torn up inside anytime anyone visits, because it doesn't measure up to what I know other people have. The rugs are stained, the furniture is dingy and uncomfortable, I'm not very good at decorating (no money to buy decorations), and I'm not meticulously neat--I'm a clutterbug trying to be a neatnick.

I should be secure in the cross. I should know by now that God can use even me, even in this half-done, unfashionable, cluttered house, to bring glory to Himself. I should recognize that I'm the one stealing my joy, the joy that God gave me, which comes from letting go of the need to measure up.

I'll just say it... I don't measure up. In terms of impressing people, I'm a loser. I don't play the game well. I stick my foot in it over and over again. If I dwell on this, I get really depressed.

God's not impressed with me and He never will be... but He loves me! I feel hokey, but it's something to shout about. He really did use the foolish things of this world to put to shame the wise. He chose me and I'm the biggest fool I know.

for Katie

My sister is leaving again for the Netherlands this week. It's hard to have her so far away, especially because we've grown so much closer over the past few years. Clara is sad too. Can you tell? If she could articulate it, I'm sure she would say, "Auntie Katie, take me with you! I know you would feed me more cookies than Mommy does!" (Clara got a few extra cookies at Auntie Katie and Grandpa's hands over Christmas.) ;)
Seriously, we will miss you so very much Katie, and John too.

Father knows best

During a Post-Christmas celebration at our house, Matt gave Dana the digital camera, which really upset me. What if he dropped it?! Evidently, I had a pretty annoyed look on my face, because Matt gave me the "Chill, Mama" look. Lucky for Matt and Dana, my entire extended family was standing there, so I dropped the subject (at least until I could find a way to sneak the camera away from Dana).

In the meantime, I began to watch my son with the camera very closely. He was doing a great job and for my reluctant patience, I got the reward of about 140 pictures. They were wonderful. It's so amazing to look at life and family through his eyes. Here are a few of my favorites.

We had a great holiday

I love seeing this many people at our table. Thanks to everyone for coming to see us. We had a wonderful time.

this is an experiment

Here goes my first blogspot post! Hello all.