This Special Guy in My Life

There's this special guy in my life, who never ceases to amaze me.

I could write a lot about him here. But I have limited time today for "fun" stuff and a to-do list that beckons. Still I feel led to share this story.

During the storm, "this guy"(Mike) and I had a few early morning moments with our devotions. He's so disciplined at this and I am not. BUT, a message at church provided us with a list of scripture all focusing on Mary, and I decided to investigate them all before Christmas, to prepare my heart in the BEST way known - through God's word.

So the first morning I surprised Mike by joining him during his devotion time, I noticed that he was taking turns reading two books - "Dreaming With God" and "Next Generation Leader". So I said, "So you aren't reading your Bible?" And he said, "NOPE, I finished it".

Now, if you know my husband, he is always joking and trying to be funny. So for a second, I thought he was doing just that. But then I realized, that NO, he was completely serious. He read the entire Bible.

And he went on to say that he is going to read it again, but this time in a different sequence.

Amazed - in awe - inspiring...

A few years ago he would barely read an occasional cowboy novel. I'm so proud!

Remembering this week!

Some of my friends and family are done with this crazy weather...not me. I really love it. Love the excuse to stay at home (strangely not cabin fever) - Love that everything got canceled - Love Love Love the white stuff. No one can argue that it was/is a memorable time.

Please enjoy these pictures of our week and forgive me for butchering Daphne's video. I was trying to watch and video with my little camera at the same time. For you perfectionists out there, don't worry - we got the better angle/picture etc on our real video camera. And sob sob sob, the more exciting performance - the one where she was dressed as a BLUES BROTHER in tu-tu, shades, hat etc, and singin' "soul man!"...I "recorded" on stand-by. Once again got that on the real video recorder...bummer, as I can only share videos from my lil camera.

Daphne's Performance

Birth Stories

I adore babies - always have, always will. I'm not sure I will ever stop longing for more. Today is no different as I look at some newborn pictures...

This week our good friends had TWO babies. And not only will their "story" be special because they are twins, but they were born in this snowstorm. How cool.

Pray for these babies and their family. They are doing well.

Snow Storm

I could be posting pictures of the pretty scene out my window, but that just seems silly, since most my readers are looking at the same thing out theirs - SNOW. We are so enjoying it and taking advantage of our home time.

So instead, I will share a better story with you.

My sis returned my "we've got snow e-mail" with "we've got snow too". The ironic thing is that she lives in Las Vegas! Go figure.

I'm just happy for my nephew Max...

Three funny things about this picture if you look closely:

a. I think that is my sister's red coat (probably because Max doesn't own a winter coat being a dessert kid)

b. Is he wearing shorts?

c. Of course the dessert plant sunken down by the snow.

They're moving back this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Lot of Goings Ons After Thanksgiving...

It has taken great discipline to NOT blog these past two weeks. So much has been going on - from cleaning, to decorating, to parties...and I have wanted to stop and share them all, but alas there is ALWAYS laundry, dishes and diapering that seems to NEED me first. Yuck.

Well, today, I announced that I was going to do something for myself, rather than the mound of dishes in the sink. So, prepare yourself for a big "catching you up" post - - it doesn't really all mesh.

Number One:

Remember my goal to purge after our cabin trip? Well purging takes organization and I found myself wanting to centralize all our books again. Kid books that is...so this is the little song that I sang as I did this task:

"How many books, does an old teacher collect? If an old teacher never stops collecting books?" (to the tune of how much wood can a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood)

















Number Two (this is for Jill):




I made an official "word wall" for Daphne to hang in our dining nook. I made it look awfully cute with Martha Stewart papers. Daphne likes to sit at the kitchen table and "write", and has started wanting to spell and memorize certain words too. So we write them on index cards, she decorates them a tiny bit (not to cover the word tho) and hang them for future reference. This is something I used to have in my classroom, so if you have any questions let me know and I will elaborate. It's fun to cut text from print like magazines and newspapers too.



Number Three:

This year we have a Christmas Room, not a decorated house. Ruby stays corralled in our undecorated living room, and our dining room is our pretty spot. I love how it turned out.

A Thanksgiving to Remember

This Thanksgiving we went away ~ just us. All alone. We missed our family a lot, but we loved our family time so much.

For so many reasons I have fallen in love with the town to which we escaped. It's beyond scenic - out of a magazine perfect...in fact it is featured in magazines every once in awhile. And my in-laws, so conveniently, or should I say, strategically, bought a second home there. We all call it our cabin.

But I think beyond the beauty and the traditions we have when we are visiting ~ it's the fact that our own little family (just the five of us) are able to use it as a real, genuine getaway. We actually lived there for 6 weeks, when Maisie was Ruby's age. I think it was my time there those long weeks that made me fall so hard. There's no cell service or internet at the cabin, and we're so far away from home, that no small emergency would call us home.

It's all about rest, slowing down, taking in God's wonderful creation and remembering why we love one another so much. I mean for goodness sake, I even got Mike to help me with a puzzle while we were there. I barely get him to sit down around here, let alone try to make sense of a million pieces that are supposed to fit together to make artwork.

And now we're home, and I could never express all the feelings I felt on this last trip ~ OR bring home the wonderful smells so intoxicatingly cozy...but alas I have to share our pictures.

We are refreshed now ~ and just in time for the busiest time of the year, right?! And although I couldn't live at the cabin for all my days, and can't live "cabin pace" all my days either, I came home ready to implement some changes in our usual pace to make things more enjoyable and peaceful here too. I want to be able to do a puzzle every once in awhile in my own home, and play GO FISH at least once a day when my preschooler asks, and I want to cut back on the amount of toys and clothes around here, so I'm not cleaning up and doing laundry all day too. I want to turn off the tv and phones occasionally...

Just breathe.

From One Mom to Another

Dear Moms (who love to shop!),

In my pursuit of the perfect outfit for that Christmas card picture I told you about a couple posts ago, I came across a new shopping venue. My sister in law, Becca, gave me the hint that there was a discount Gymboree out there. She wasn't sure of the name...but I found it.

Just go to Crazy8.com!

Have fun and Happy Thanksgiving (we're out a here as of tomorrow am!)

Stef

My Village

We've all heard the phrase, "it takes a village", and whether or not you like that one or not, we all have to agree on the fact that life is made easier with good friends and family.

Last week was a testiment for that phrase in my life. Mike was away hunting and I was still battling to get more sleep out of Maisie. Who knows sleep is a foremost necessity when you are running solo in parenting? Enough said. And guess what? I survived.

Here's why:

There was this woman who, although was right smack in the middle of moving into their brand new home, answered the phone every time I called ( 4 times in a week?) even though she knew it wouldn't be a quick conversation. Could she have said, "well, I really gotta go and get something done now"? Yes. Did she? No. She brainstormed, agonized, and encouraged me.

There was this woman, who let Daphne come stay a whole afternoon, to lighten my load - - and it did.

There was this woman who managed to keep tabs on me all week long. I could feel her prayers. I called and she stopped and listened, we worked out and she listened, she rushed to my aid one morning when I needed someone to sit with Ruby. She was my cheerleader.

There was this Great-Grandma, who welcomed us in unannounced one evening at 6PM. She danced with my girls, took them potty, and fixed them snacks - all with a big smile. Did I say she is 80?

There was this neighbor, who took Daphne to school at 7:45am, when because I had been up 6-7 times! in the middle of the night, was running late the next morning.

There was this mom, who watched my girls while I got to get out of the house and go to a fun baby shower one night.

There was another mom, who invited us over for dinner one evening, even though she had worked all day herself. She even had a care package for our Thanksgiving trip all put together.

There was this cousin, a student at a nearby University, who made time in her busy schedule to come take care of my little ones, so I could take a little one to the doctor.

There was this amazing father, who picked up his daughter-in-law's altered jeans at Nordstroms - Yes, I'll say it again. A man went into Nordstroms to pick up jeans that had been altered, and made sure I got them that same day...AMAZING.

There was this pediatrician, who listened compassionately to a mother's concerns over her daughter's sleep antics, and then said, "Good news - she's still a normal, bad news, you're just going to have to keep your chin up and get through this transition time."

And finally, there was this husband, who came home from hunting a whole day early, to surprise his bride of 10 years, with a date at a nice restaurant (babysitters all taken care of in advance) and a stunning pair of diamond earrings.

So in summary, my week was really hard. I prayed out loud daily for patience and energy. And you know what - it worked. But the energy didn't come spilling out of me - it came spilling into my life through these above mentioned people. And the best thing, is that this is just a part of "my village"....

Blessed. (and since Mike has come home, Maisie has been sleeping in....drumroll...to 6:30am!)

Fair Isle

I learned something tonight.

It all started earlier today when I decided that I wanted to buy the girls something new for our Thanksgiving vacation. Yes, we're headed to our family cabin for just a few days. Long enough to get away and enjoy just the five of us for awhile. Not many young families get the chance to do this, let alone have their parents bless it - all of ours think it is great. I am so excited about this mountain get away and keep imagining it in my mind....

fires in the woodstove, no tv - so movies, puzzles, a small turkey dinner, dips in the local hotsprings, and my girls sitting on a well known (to our fam) bench outside a favorite logcabin breakfast hotspot...

The last vision made me think that if they had on just the right outfit, and if I took enough pictures, I could get the perfect Christmas card shot.

And thus the mission was born. I've been searching Old Navy, Gap, Gymboree, Hanna Andersson etc. looking for cute sweaters or hats or coats. But I'm thinking I shouldn't spend a lot and it should be functional.

Well, all of these websites have collections named "Fair Isle", and I like them a lot. I decided to google it and found out it is an actual island - the smallest one in Brittain I believe. There must be more to it, but it's midnight and I'll stop my search there.

All I know is that I made a HUGE mistake in my final search. Yep, I just had to peek at Janie and Jack. Well, their Fair Isle is too much for words. And my husband (although a fan of Janie and Jack) would probably have a lot of words for me if I bought these clothes. So, I'll be very strong and just share with you.

Oh, and there were a lot more items to choose from...but you get the feel. Very pretty. And isn't it hard to imagine that these clothes would be like Walmart clothes for Suri Cruise. That's my last past midnight thought...

Interesting thoughts...

This was stolen from a forward I got today (it will make you think)...

HOW LONG DO WE HAVE? This is the most interesting thing I've read in a long time. The sad thing about it, you can see it coming. I have always heard about this democracy countdown. It is interesting to see it in print. God help us, not that we deserve it.

How Long Do We Have?

About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

'A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.' 'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.' 'From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.' 'The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years' 'During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. from dependence back into bondage'

How's that for veering from the usual Mayflower's Musings?

All Alone

Last week was just plain hard. My faithful readers already know most of the reasons. Excuse me if there are any boys reading (highly doubtful)...but on top of Maisie's new sleep conditions, my menstrual cycle arrived after 20 months of not knowing one, Mike had an extra busy end of the week/weekend, and my baby pulled a hot curling iron down onto her arm.

I was done. "Cash in my chips" sort of done. I had to get away, and no hour sitting at Starbucks would do - nor shopping at the mall or something of the like. I needed silence, alone time, solitude.

Blessed am I to have a little cabin getaway in the family just an hour or so away...and doubly blessed to have a husband push me out the door in complete understanding of my state of heart.

So I packed up after church on Sunday, and stopping at the last hamburger joint in town, I drove out of town with a chocolate milkshake in hand. After many songs sung at the top of my lungs, I arrived at our little riverside cabin at the coast. ALL ALONE.

I sat in two positions, shown in the pictures below. Green chair, leather couch. Magazines, book, and a rented movie all at my disposal to distract my frazzled mind.

And when dinner time rolled around, I drove to the little grocery store and bought whatever sounded good. Thus...the candy. (the lunchable was just to get in a little protein)

At 7pm, I packed up and bid farewell to my peaceful abode. Sad to leave, but newly refreshed, I said a prayer for my safety and set out on my return drive.

I highly suggest the following retreat to all my weary mom readers. Even if it is just your bedroom.

Things are still rough here with Ms. 5am Maisie, but I feel a little bit better. Both for your encouragement and my little trip.

Thanks - Tell Me More

Because of you, I am getting a game plan...

Now, one more thing - tell me what you all know about melatonin. I've heard that some kids/adults have a deficiency there and that it can help.

Good thing she's so darn cute.

This is Maisie Josephine. She doesn't look much like me, doesn't act much like me, but she is my daughter and she holds a good chunk of my heart. I mean, just look at her - she's stinkin' cute. And most people that get a chance to spend quality time with her, fall in love too.

But she tests my patience more than anyone in my life ~ and her antics make me design new strategies constantly too. This post has one goal and it is to bring you into one of these times in my life when I need some serious mommy ideas.

Maisie is no longer in her crib "tent". She is THREE and FREE. Thus she wakes up at 5-5:30am and takes a one hour nap (now the latter is something I can live with...I know three year olds start tapering their naps off) BUT I am not good with her early rising status. It would be somewhat better if she truly was ready to wake at this hour - but she is not. She is tired and grumpy and seriously a pain to deal with all morning (super tired girl).

Here are some thoughts:

1. a baby proofed handle on the inside of her room

2. a digital alarm clock with the minutes taped off and a big seven on an index card - so that she can see that only when a seven is visable can she come out of her room

3. back to two naps

4. a later bed time

5. no nap

6. drugs for me

Any thoughts out there?