Bible story

Last Sunday Xander learned about the miracle of Jesus healing a man who couldn't hear or speak. Here's his version of Mark 7:31-36.



Don't you just love his hat, mittens and glasses? He insisted on telling the story with them on. :)

 

And since I'm linking up with Thankful Thursday, I want to say that I'm incredibly thankful for all the amazing people who pour into my kids.

Xander's preschool teachers:

Ms. Robin and Ms. Susan

Amelia Jayne's daycare teachers:

Ms. Hannah and Ms. Susan

Xander's Waumba leaders at church:

Mr. Chad, Ms. Laura, Mr. Braydon, Mr. Gage and Ms. Jessica

Amelia Jayne's Waumba leaders at church:

Ms. Melissa, Ms. Josie, Ms. Michelle and Ms. Shelley

The other ladies at church who work tirelessly to make the preschool environments so fantastic. To name a few -Whitney, Lara and Sarah.

Mimi - my mom.

Grandma - David's mom.

And all the other people out there who love my kiddos so much and make it known to them.

Thank you.

Parenting

This is becoming more and more true each day!! 

Hope you can read this. I know the print is small. I'm so thankful that I have friends and family who understand this. And I'm glad to see I'm not the only one!

Health

I have to admit I'm pretty proud of myself. My big goal for 2013 is to get healthy. I obviously want to lose weight, but more than that, I want to be healthy so I'll be around to enjoy my kids and my husband for a long time and live a life that I can be proud of - and glorify God.

I've done fairly well over the past three weeks. I'm up to running a good bit now which makes me very happy. After Amelia Jayne was born, I had a really hard time being able to run without my back hurting (and other parts I won't mention). I got on the treadmill four times last week and actually ran over 6 miles - and that's just the running part! I'm struggling some this week between a sick and teething (therefore fussy) baby, lack of sleep and busy schedule. But it's only Wednesday, so I have some time to finish strong. I'm still on track to run that half marathon sometime this year. What?!?!

I've lost 11 pounds.

What am I doing, you ask? I've been eating healthier and moving more. There's no secret to weight loss. It's just doing what you know you need to do.

I've been drinking a green smoothie every day which I've (surprisingly) thoroughly enjoyed! Here's my recipe - give it a try!

1 handful of spinach (about a cup)
1/2 c. frozen pineapple
1/2 c. frozen blueberries
1/2 banana
About a cup of water (depending on how thick you like it)
Add some ice if your fruit isn't frozen

Blend it all together! Voila! Quick, easy and yum!!

Although I'm pretty sure God didn't intend these verses to mean a literal race, they help me when I'm running. They're pretty awesome verses anyway. :)

I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free.
Psalm 119:32

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:1-3

And I'm still holding on to Nehemiah 6:3.
"I am doing a great work and I cannot come down."

Crazy Hair and Outside Fun Part 2

I took this video last week while we were playing outside.
Then my phone died.
Then I completely forgot that I took a video.
So please enjoy this belated treasure.
Amelia Jayne is going to grow up one tough little cookie with that big brother around! Plus, she's a pretty determined little girl, as you can tell from the video. :)

Welcome, little Ethan!

David's cousin Justin, and his wife Thea, had their baby boy a couple of weeks ago! 

OMG! He is adorable, right??

Welcome to the world, baby Ethan! We can't wait to meet you!

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

who's the cutest baby of all??

Trail of beauty

"There is a trail of beauty just waiting to be left by you." - Emily Freeman

Love this quote. Absolutely love it. Remember it today as you go through your activities.

Pretty darn good blog post, too, if you ask me. This is important for all of us to remember. Take a minute to read Emily's words. Genius. ;)

Friday Favorites

If you haven't seen Les Miserables yet in the theater, please go now before it's too late.
{Take your tissues}
David and I went to see this on a date the afternoon of New Year's Eve. I should have blogged about it already, but it's taken me awhile to process. I immediately loved it. This is honestly one of my new favorite movies of all time. It was just so heavy and wonderful and amazing and sad and fantastic. Extremely well done. The acting was phenomenal. I laughed. I cried. I cried some more. The title is "Les Miserables" which, for those of you who don't speak French and still somehow can't figure it out means The Miserable Ones. Not a whole lot of happy going on here. But, I've always liked Les Mis - the musical, the music, the 1998 film with Liam Neeson and Geoffery Rush. A great, sad story gets me every time.
I've actually never read the book, but it's on my list. It's crazy long, so we'll see when and how long it takes, but I'm determined to read it at some point in my life. :)
David, Becky and I will be going to see the musical in February. It's part of the Broadway Lights series this year. I'm looking forward to it.

Below is the trailer.
I hope you watch the movie. You won't be disappointed.

I found these rules on Pinterest and I liked them.

Remember: Love wins. :)

I also tried a new recipe this week that I found on Pinterest - Tamale Casserole. It was very yummy and healthy, too. Plus, David loved it. :) Score!

15 and 47...

...months, that is. That's how old my kids are today.
Amelia Jayne is 15 months old today.
Xander is 47 months old today. (In other words, he'll be 4 next month).

Sigh.

They're growing up too fast.

I've been enjoying finding new blogs to read and recently came across this one.



I've decided to link up and share things that I'm thankful for each Thursday. If you remember my commitment to share something I'm thankful for each day of November 2012, this will be a great way to continue a segment I enjoyed so thoroughly.
That brings me back to my earlier statements. 15 and 47...how grateful I am for those two kiddos and the joys and sorrows, headaches and smiles they bring to me. I am blessed to be their mommy! That's what I'm thankful for on this Thursday! 
Oh! And I'm thankful that little Emory gets to come home today! Keep praying for that tough little guy...he's a fighter! :)

Why?

Xander's about to turn 4. As most of us probably know, four is the year of "why?" And he asks that question all the time now.

Why is that a little dog?
Why is her name Daisy?
Why are we going this way?
Why do we go this way to school?
Why do we eat breakfast?
Why are they mittens?

And the list goes on...(these were just questions he asked me this morning before school).

This morning Xander and I were having a conversation at breakfast. It went something like this:
X: I'm Grandma and Mimi's grandson.
Me: That's right, honey, you are.
X. And I'm Aunt B's nephew.
Me: Uh huh.
X: And Aunt B is Daddy's sister.
Me: Who's my sister?
X: Ee-oo. Just like Amelia Jayne is my sister!
Me: Yes! That's exactly right!
X: Why is Amelia Jayne my sister?
Me: Because God gave her to us.
X: Why did God give her to us?
Me: Because He gives us special gifts - and she is one of them.
X:Yes. She was in your tummy at the hospital.
Me: And you lived in my tummy, too.
X: Yeah. [pause] Why does Amelia Jayne live here now?
Me: Because she's part of our family.
X: Who else lives here?
Me: You tell me.
X: You and me and Daddy!
Me: Mmm hmmm.
X: And who lives in my heart?
Me: Jesus.
X: And God, too.
Me: That's right, sweetie.
X: I love you so much, Mommy.
Me: [holding back the tears] I love you, too.

Crazy Hair and Outside Fun

The kids and I played outside today. It was really cold, but our backyard gets so much sun that it was pretty pleasant. The air was obviously dry and made for some really funny pictures of my daughter's hair. :) And both kids rolled around in the dead grass and got incredibly dirty. It was lots of fun!

Both kids love to be outside and they are getting old enough now that they love to play together. And by "play together" I mean push each other out of the way and trample over each other while going up the slide the wrong way. Nah, they are pretty sweet with each other overall. :)

Last Saturday

I can't remember if I've mentioned that my Dad and Karen moved to Hickory last September. It's so nice to have them close. I'll certainly take an hour and a half drive over 7 hours (if you're lucky and without children and not traveling at Thanksgiving) any day! Last Saturday we were able to take a day trip over to their place and hang out for the day. It was nice. I really enjoyed seeing them and I'm so thankful that my kids can see their grandparents more frequently! Here are some pics from the day.

Blueberries Part 2

Remember this post from last summer? Amelia Jayne still loves blueberries. Now that their season is long gone, they're expensive and harder to find, so I thought I'd let her try frozen blueberries. You can tell she still loves them. :) Word of caution: frozen blueberries are much messier than fresh!!

Interesting articles and random facts

I read this article the other day about e-readers. Very interesting information. And just another reason why you should go ahead and buy an iPad. :)

Do you remember when it was all the rage to get rickrolled? It's okay if you don't. It is pretty funny though. Anyway, I got the wii game Just Dance 4 for Christmas and it includes Rick Astley's song, "Never Gonna Give You Up." Every time we turn that game on and that song comes up, I feel like I've been rickrolled. And it makes me smile inside.

I know Pinterest has been around for awhile now and I've even been using it for almost a year and a half, but I just love it!! I find myself spending all kinds of time dreaming and pinning for later dates. I've actually followed through with a few of my pins. It's got such great ideas and is so helpful! However, it can also be a HUGE time-waster. I quit around this time last year, having realized that I spent tons of time from October of 2011 to January of 2012 pinning great ideas, but not following through with anything I pinned. I try to be a little more intentional with following through, though it's incredibly difficult with two little ones underfoot. It does have some fantastic ideas, though. A few of my recipe ideas that I've tried lately have come from there. My all-time favorite cookie recipe I got from Pinterest, too. Everybody raves about these cookies. They are fantastic, if I do say so myself. I plan to do this and this in the next few months.
I've started back with Pinterest. And I'm really enjoying it. :)

Funnies from the little man - Part 2.5

Guess what?!?! I found some lost funnies on my phone. Apparently I had been keeping a record of Xander's sayings and then started a new one without realizing I never posted the old one! These sayings are dated May 2012. I can't believe that was 8 months ago!
They made me smile. I hope they do the same for you. :)

Xander: That poopy looks like a hotdog!!

Xander: That school bus had flashing lights!
Me: (long explanation about school buses, their lights, and what they mean)
Xander: Uhhh...sure!

Xander: Diapers don't have tags. They have Elmos and Grovers and Ernies and Berts.
(just look at a pack of pampers if you're confused:))

On the phone with Daddy who was working late.
Daddy: Okay, Xander. Have a good night.
Xander: Goodnight, daddy! Be good for the office!

Me: Xander, do you have anything to pray for?
Xander: But, yeah!
(After we prayed...)
Xander: I prayed for God!
Me:Yeah buddy, you prayed to God.
Xander: I prayed three God.

This one thing...

I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.
Nehemiah 6:3

The sermon at church on Sunday was called This One Thing. I cannot express how fantastic it was to sit in service and hear this sermon preached. It was real, y'all. It spoke to me and I hope it spoke to so many others sitting in that service.

This one thing. There's always this one thing. Something that needs to be changed or worked on. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Not just on Sunday and not just this week. I've been thinking about it for a few months, maybe even years.

I want to be healthy. This is my year. You know why? Because "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down." I will not come down when someone tempts me with unhealthy choices. I will not come down when my mind and my will are weak. I will not come down when I feel like giving up. I will not come down because I am doing a great work!

My body is a temple. I'll admit to not always liking my body, but you know what? God does. He gave it to me and He loves me. When I think about God as the great Artist, I can't help but think how we are his beautiful pieces of art, His creation. Just like art, we all have our own opinions. Some may like it and some may not. But God, the Creator, loves each of His creations. We are all unique and we are all His.

So my commitment to God and to myself? I choose to be healthy. My goal is to make good choices with my time, my energy, and my food.

This isn't just some willy nilly new year's resolution. This is real. This is my life and if I don't do something about it, no one will. I am responsible for me and I know this will make God proud.

I'm not saying I'm going to lose 50 pounds (though I'd like to) and I'm not saying that I'll run any marathons (though I would like to attempt a half) and I don't want to become so engrossed in reaching this goal that I ultimately undo it. I want to be healthy in all areas - that means balancing my time, giving my children and husband the "me" they deserve, and serving God through all areas - including my body. I wrote recently about serving God in a more wholistic way. And I guess what I mean by that is serving God wholly - whole-heartedly, with reckless abandon, in all areas and focuses of my life.

"I am doing a great work and I cannot come down."
This has become somewhat of a mantra for me.
I say it to myself over and over.
I have to remind myself what I'm doing, what my endgame is.
I say it when I don't want to get on the treadmill.
I say it when I don't want to play outside with my kids.
I say it when I really want that piece of chocolate cake sitting in the other room.
I say it when I would rather be reading a book than spending some quality time with my husband.
I've said it to myself about 300 times this week already! And it's worked for me.
It helps remind me of what I am doing.
And Who I'm doing it for.

Update on the kiddos

Despite my pleas that my babies would stay little forever, they continue to grow and change and mature. Here are a few things going on with them:

Amelia Jayne has many words - among them:
uh oh
bye bye
Mama - she says this allllll the time now :)
Dada
Bubba
ball
bubble
Mimi
Papa
baby
duck

Animal sounds:
cat
dog
sheep
cow
duck
bear, lion, dinosaur (pretty much the same sounds)


I feel like she's adding new sounds, and some words, daily now!

She's become quite the eater! She'll pretty much eat (or at least try) anything, but her favorite foods are fruits and veggies. Yay for her! She'll eat blueberries, apples, bananas, oranges, cuties, tangerines, pears, carrots, green beans, corn, peas, broccoli, and sweet potatoes. That girl can eat some sweet potatoes!
She also loves sweets. I didn't think a tooth could get much sweeter than mine, but apparently I've passed it down. If she sees a cookie, she squeals until she gets it or until you put it up. And if you put it away, expect tears to follow. It's like she has radar. I won't even see the sugary goodness, but I'll hear her squealing. Then I'll follow her gaze or pointing finger and there it is!

Amelia Jayne continues to be an amazing sleeper. She's still the easiest child ever to put down to sleep. She still sucks on her blanket, to my disgust, but it makes her happy so I don't complain. I just try to wash it as often as possible. :)

Oh, Xander. He is...what my MIL would call him...four.
Whiny, pitiful, four.
Some days are great. But man, those days that he decides to be four? Whew. Hopefully we'll all make it through this year. I guess I get an extra couple of months since he won't technically be four until the end of next month. Oh, joy!

When we were away for the holidays, everything got worse. Xander's routine was interrupted, his schedule thrown off. He didn't eat normal foods, he didn't nap at all, he didn't even get to sleep before 9 most nights. That was fairly catastrophic. Add to it that he had Mimi and Grandma for that whole time and the whininess just became unbearable. I'm pretty sure he thinks Grandma and Mimi will let him get away with anything, which is probably true. But when Mama's around, watch out! I have the ultimate say-so that trumps anything Grandma or Mimi says. And Xander doesn't quite understand that yet. So he whines. He'll learn. Oh, he will learn.

We're going through a phase where both kids want me. It's very challenging for everyone involved. They don't want to share me and they get very jealous and competitive of each other when it comes to me. If I'm holding Amelia Jayne or helping her with something, Xander calls for me or whines or says his famous phrase, "Mommy, I neeeeed you!" If I'm reading a book with Xander or sitting on the floor with him, Amelia Jayne squeals screams as she toddles over and attempts to sit in my lap. Xander then screams, Amelia Jayne pulls his hair or hits him until he moves, making Xander yell louder, until all I want to do is pull my own hair out! I know it's just a phase, but geez! I'm not sure why I wasn't expecting this, but I wasn't.

I'm working on being a little more intentional with the kids. If Xander needs some extra attention, I try to play with him more while Amelia Jayne is napping. If Amelia Jayne needs something then I explain her needs to Xander and ask him to be patient. I'm also going to start having more "dates" with Xander where he and I get to go places together, just the two of us.

We'll see how all of this goes. I don't know if it'll work, but it's worth a try. Right?

Overall, I just love those little boogers. I just know that a few months years from now, I'll be looking back at these times, pining for them, and remembering how special they were. Yes. One day I will.

Books I've read: September - December, 2012

1. Love Wins by Rob Bell
Read it. Love wins. What a simple concept. There is so much truth to that statement. Seriously, read it. It was a quick read with thought-provoking material. I loved it.

2. Crazy Love by Francis Chan
My small group has been reading this book over the past few weeks. I have all kinds of feelings about it. I hated it at the beginning, but it started growing on me around chapter 6ish. There are only 10 chapters in this book. Typically I would close up a book and move on if I wasn't engrossed after reading halfway through, but since we were reading this in group, I kind of didn't have a choice. It did get better, and definitely challenged me to be open-minded. I wrote a tad bit about it here.

3. Dear Me: A Letter to My Sixteen-Year-Old Self Edited by Joseph Galliano
An interesting compilation of letters from famous people, written to themselves at age 16. Pretty fun little book - some letters are funny, some are serious. I liked it. Be on the lookout for a post from me, to my sixteen-year-old self. :)

4. Grace for the Good Girl by Emily P. Freeman
So maybe I'm cheating because I'm not quite finished with this book. I was supposed to be a part of an online book club, reading this book and blogging about it. I was a little behind, okay a lot, so I've decided to have my own installments of the "book club" and just not link up with the actual one. I've really enjoyed this book. It's been challenging, encouraging, and validating. I'll write more about it later.



This is a pretty sad little list over the past four months. I hope to read more this year...if only I had the time...and I hadn't been introduced to "words with friends," my newest addiction :). No really, I do hope to make more time to do some of the things I love, like reading.

Remember this...

A New Year

 My New Year's Resolution:

 I feel that the best thing I can do for my family, my friends, myself, even my enemies is just to love.

It's that simple.

I have some other ideas, some other goals. Things I want to accomplish and plan to stay on task with this year.

But this is the big thing.