off we go

Aida's ready - helmet-goggles and all. We are excited to head to Santa Barbara in the morning (on a plane, not this trike) but sad to leave Daddy behind. I know we'll have all kinds of adventures to share when we get home.

Sunshine and warmth and family joy, here we come!

toys and other things

Elijah and I were talking yesterday about the state of our home. As in, glance around each room and you can find 15 things that just "don't belong." This is absolutely, without a doubt, 100% because of our children. (Well, except for that small mountain of clothes on the floor of our room that magically reappears each morning. Our children are only 67% responsible for that.)

I'm not just talking about toys strewn all over the house. That would sort of make sense. Instead, we have my children's playthings strewn all over the house. There is a big difference between conventional toys and the things my girls play with. For example, here are some of their latest favorites:

• old Christmas wrapping paper that somehow hasn't made it to the trash can yet (I am telling myself this is because my children are playing with it. How could I possibly throw it away?)
• Daddy's shoes (these make perfect bumper cars and cradles for Little People, if you were wondering)
• foil
• yarn
• grocery store bags
• socks and mittens (which apparently make superb coin purses - where did they ever learn the phrase "coin purse"? as well as excellent caves for all sorts of tiny objects)

Also high on the list is playing with their toys in a way completely unrelated to the way they were made to be used. For example:

• toy brooms are not for sweeping. (ha!) They are for laying on the couch so that the string loop at the top of the broom hangs down. This way, Little People can be hung from said string and parachute. (Now does that picture make sense?)
• toy strollers are occasionally used for pushing dolls and toys around the house. More often, they are laid down on the floor and become a fair - stuffed animals perch on the wheels (I mean ferris wheels) and other toys hang from the bars/roller coasters (this is where that yarn comes in handy).
• tricycles. Yes, we currently have 2 tricycles residing INside our little home. The girls got them for Christmas and it was covered with snow outside. The snow keeps coming, along with the frigid (by my southern CA standards) weather. We are inside trike-riders until spring hits. Warmer weather, please come soon!

Oh, 3, you are a most challenging age in so many ways. But you are also so fun and so creative that I can't help but love you.

in gratitude

Seems I'm being hit over the head this week - multiple times - with the truth that this life is a gift.

My family is a gift.

Our Church is a gift.

Each breath I take is a gift.

And so, thank You.

aida with cowboy hat

Happy weekend!

snow days are good for...

...conquering the 2-sided dinosaur puzzle that came at Christmas

...trying a new recipe for this week's loaf of bread - then proceeding to devour 1/2 of said loaf in 5 minutes

...staying in pjs until 11:00

...sledding with Daddy

...building a snowman (can you believe how big it is? In Nashville?!?)

...and then dancing in circles around the snowman, singing, "Frosty"

...snow cream and hot chocolate

...sewing (will those quilts ever be finished? I think I can, I think I can.)

...soup for dinner

...snuggling. Lots and lots of it.

clean up

Putting away the Christmas decorations is always so sad.

Of course, having these 2 little monkeys singing Jingle Bell Rock (over and over and over...) throughout the clean-up process made it much more tolerable this year.

Blessed Epiphany to you all!

6 years ago

On this day 6 years ago (which also happened to be a Tuesday) Elijah asked me to marry him and I jumped up and down and said, "Yes!"

I was in my slippers. I had been hoping for a proposal (let's be honest here). He'd had so many "perfect" opportunities to propose - our 1 1/2 year dating anniversary, Christmas, New Year's. But he chose a Tuesday while I was in my slippers. And it truly was perfect - beyond any dream or expectation I had.

That was merely one of the many ways that God has taught me about the differences between what I think I want and what He knows I need. That baby your heart desires? Here are 2! And let's make them preemies who never sleep at the same time. Another little one to follow? You'll meet that precious one in heaven some day. A homebody who never left town? Make your new home - put down roots and let yourself love - a place 2000 miles away.

6 years later, my husband and I spent the day playing with beautiful twin girls, anticipating the arrival of another little blessing.

I'm thanking God tonight for all things. It's hard to do sometimes. Clearly I struggle with it, since I talk so gosh-darned much about it on this blog. But it is the beginning of true peace.

(Gosh, weren't we cute? And so so excited - look at my pink cheeks!)