Babies, Brownies and Blessings

Merry Christmas! I am not celebrating the day as I imagined as we have one child under the weather. I find myself plucked from the noisy festivities and instead experiencing the quiet of a sleepy afternoon. No matter how one plans, there is not escaping the facts of life. While I would rather be surrounded by those I love, I'm finding some joy in my quiet afternoon with Christ. Sometimes we need to be taken out of the busyness to experience the true meaning of life, and this Christmas season. Jesus Christ. He came to THIS earth, as a baby, for ME. Because no matter how hard I try, I can never be good enough to earn my salvation. The junk in my life, however hidden, trivial, or unnamed, separates me from my God. However blatant, ugly and unforgivable. I deserve none of what was given. I have received all that was offered. Jesus Christ, son of God, given because He loves me. And he loves you too. He's particularily fond of you, as William P. Young wrote in The Shac...

I think I like surprises. And gifts. I say "think" because I never quite realized it until recently. Surprises and gifts add some pressure and expectation to those who love me so I've been reluctant to classify myself as one of "those" people. Luckily I don't require big gifts, though, so maybe it's ok after all. Bri and I have been married 11 years now. Most "real" dating ended long before kids as we settled into marital bliss. While that sounds facetious, it is not. I wouldn't trade the comfort of our love for anything. Now that our children are a bit older, however, I've been itching for some romance. And so has my man, apparently. Wednesday I was surprised with the most perfect and wonderful Christmas gift: tickets to see Les Miserables for that night! Not only had Bri found tickets on Craigslist, purchased and wrapped them, he arranged for his folks to have the kids overnight, took the night off work and made sure...

Picture perfect is redefined when children are present. Instead of a harmonious family joyfully getting a Christmas tree it's a moment in which all are together and hopefully none are crying. Freezing hands, cold cheeks, hungry tummies all accompanied us on our Christmas tree adventure today. Our expectations were realistic and we enjoyed the time together as a family, marked though it was by normal kid-behavior. We've gotten smarter and kept things pretty short. We picked the first decent tree we saw instead of searching for the perfect one. It was a great time, have a lovely balsam to show for it and some pictures we can look back on and reminisce about the good old days. That's the one! And Claire is really excited about it... Bri muscling a dull saw blade My strong men Caleb helping hold the tree while it got "shook". I love the grins on the men's faces. Merry Christmas! Cutting open the Christmas tree Chocolate dipped pretzel...

There are so many little choices we make each day. Some are of consequence, others are trivial. It would seem that during times like the Christmas season, when there are gifts to buy and limited funds to use, the opportunity to be honest sneaks up more frequently. The temptation to say "Oh, it was their mistake" or "too bad for them, not my problem" when we get "long-changed" is always nudging more strongly than the inclination to turn around and correct the error. At Target today I discovered a Target gift card and another rewards card in my cart when I got to the check out. At first I thought it had fallen out of my purse because I had the same rewards card. After checking out my wallet it was apparent that the cards were not mine. My first thought was "Oh, my lucky day, I can just use this gift card and see what's on it!" Then I realized that was dishonest and my integrity was worth more than the $5 or $10 on that card. The reward...

There have been interludes of my life as a mom that have been marked with a sort of boredom. Not a, there's-nothing-to-do-I'm-so-bored type boredom, it's more vague than that. It's a general sense of never completing anything or having something of purpose to do. Not being able to measure and state with satisfaction that I accomplished...anything. My days are marked by piles of laundry that momentarily shrink only to have them grow again. Dishes that were dirty, now clean, now dirty again. A floor that is usually mopped but never clean. In fact, I am always looking for the perfect time to mop my floor and was saying such to a friend who wisely responded: There's no such thing as a good time to clean the floor. That oddly set me free from the search of finding the right time and I'm settling on any time I can. With children at several ages of toddler and childhood we are always second-guesssing our parenting. We try to be consistent but consistently fe...

One of the things on my list when on my weekend shopping spree was some new perfume. I had a particular one in mind and was scouting the best price. From Perfumania to Nordstrom Rack, Macy's to Bloomingdales I went in search of a bargain. The perfume I was coveting was Light Blue by Dolce and Gabbana and I couldn't get enough of the smell. It somehow reminds me of the anniversary weekends I have spent with my man and mmm...it makes my heart happy. Nordstrom Rack proved the best bang for my buck and with glee I plucked it off the shelf and turned over my hard earned money. Minutes later I ripped open the package and spritzed some on me. Um...this smells different...I thought. I asked Ang to smell it and she said different but still good. I couldn't get over the musky smell because I remembered it being light and almost fruity. I got home and started doing some research. I was wondering if perhaps it had gone bad...or they changed the formula? I clicked on a p...

At the risk of sounding ungrateful during this time of remembering those we're grateful for I have to salute my babysitter. I am thankful for her. She saves my day when I can't take one more minute. Need an example? Today all I heard and felt were the screams and pokes and proddings of my three little ones. Every time I turned around someone was hurt or hungry or...something that made them cry  (and I still don't know what that thing was). Not my kid but a PERFECT example of what my day looked and felt like. I had truly reached my whits end and when my brilliant husband tossed out the idea of a babysitter. He was on his way to work and could do nothing for me but offer extremely ingenious ideas. 3 texts later and I had a sitter that could spell me within the hour. Now THAT is something to be thankful for! I left, she was happy, they were happy. All went well until I walked in again and triggered the whines by my very presence. But a break is an amazing t...