Dinner of champions

Jeb decided he was gonna make us all ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner tonight. The only thing I did was get the plates down. He got the stuff out of the fridge, toasted the bread, and put everything together all by himself and he was so proud! Love him :)

Growing up

Sometimes I just can't believe how big my Izzy B is getting. She has been begging me to give her a sewing lesson and yesterday we finally did it. Well, she did it. She sat there and held the fabric and even pressed the foot pedal by herself! We made a tiny blanket for her dollhouse.

Kindergarten has been really good for her. She has learned sooo much and it has really brought her out of her shell. It makes this mommy's heart very happy. Last night she picked green eggs and ham as her bedtime story and just started reading it out loud, all on her own. I was amazed and had to catch it on video. Jeb wanted in on the camera time too. He's a ham. :)

(I can't figure out how to upload a video directly from my phone to blogger so I put it on YouTube.)
http://youtu.be/QQvoCS5Aku4

What cake???

Wacky Wednesday!

This week in kindergarten they are celebrating Dr.Suess's birthday and today they were reading "Wacky Wednesday" and got to dress accordingly! (Actually I think every day is wacky day around here!) My big girl had fun picking out her "wacky" outfit. :)

Goodbye, Silly Tomato

Was just scrolling through old posts and realized that I had started this post over a year ago and never finished it. The pictures are from the day Isabelle had her port removed. We wrote the letter to her port the night before. She told me exactly what to write. She was such a champ that day. I thought back to the day she had her port put in and how far we had come. All I can do is praise The Lord and say thank you thank you thank you. A million times thank you, Father. Thank you for bringing my child through this and letting us keep her. Thank you for giving us the strength to endure such a hard road and thank you for blessing us along the way with supportive friends and family and everything we need. More than we could ever ask or imagine. You are so faithful and loving and worthy to be praised!

Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. (James 5:10, 11 NIV)

But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. (Psalm 73:28 NIV)

Snow day!

Just a few pictures from the one and only snow that we got this year! A couple of friends from church were here that day too.
(I got the pictures a little out of order. The hopscotch pic was taken the day after that snow. That's how fast it melted!)

The Blessedness of Being Little

(Jeb December 2010)


The title above is a quote by William Shakespeare. I have a wooden sign that was hanging in Isabelle's nursery when she was a baby with that quote on it.

This afternoon, Jeb woke up from his nap a little too soon. (There was a certain smell coming from his room which I won't describe.) So, I changed his diaper, and could tell he was still tired, so we just cuddled in the chair downstairs until he fell back asleep. I thought about putting him back to bed, so I could work on all the housework I am behind on, but decided not too, because, hey, you never know when will be the last time your baby boy decides to fall asleep on your chest, so I opted to just ignore the housework and sit there and enjoy him. We have had so much going since he was born that I feel like I haven't had as many quiet moments like this with him as I would've liked.

So I sat there, in the still and quiet, and prayed for my child, but mostly just stared at him and admired God's handiwork. I wanted to soak in every single detail of how he looked at that moment. The little red swirl of hair on top of his head, his long eyelashes, the shape of his nose (and the crustiness around the edges of it), the way his mouth was closed just a tiny bit crooked and the sticky mess that was still on his chin from lunch. I felt the rhythm of his breathing against me and just sighed a deep sigh and thought I could just stay there forever.

Then I had an epiphany. Even though I feel that no one could ever love both my children more than I do, I realized that God loves them more. HE knows exactly how many of those cute curly red hairs there are on their heads, how many eyelashes they have, and the rhythm of their heartbeats. He made all of them! But more importantly than that, He knows what their talents, strengths, fears and weaknesses will be, what will be their greatest temptations in life, and what will be their greatest accomplishments. He knows it all and is shaping their lives and hearts to be what He wants them to be. That is such a comforting thought to me! My constant prayer is that God will shape me to look more and more like Christ each day, so that, my children can "imitate me as I imitate Christ." But, no matter what I do, or how imperfect I am as a mother or Christian, God IS perfect, and He is in control!

"For You formed my inward parts;You covered me in my mother’s womb." (Psalm 139:13)

"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight! Jesus loves the little children of the world!"

And that, to me, is the blessedness of being little.