Signs of the times

See this lone mini-matchbox car? 

Its a sign of the times around here... the babies are growing up, and that means growing out of things. 

My boys haven't played with these cars in years. We had bins full of cars and now we are down to this one last mini and a handful of regular sized matchbox cars which are gathered into a play purse of all things. 

These are the boys represented. 

Nate had a dinosaur collection, he WAS a dinosaur much of the time. He knew the names of them all too. 

Jacob was our cars and trucks little boy. I don't know what year he got this Darth Vader on a motorcycle, but that was a big deal! 

So I have these toys floating around that we do not need anymore and I have to remember that I will still have my memories even if I get rid of the toys! And I am not prolonging their childhood by keeping them around! They are growing up! And really it is wonderful to watch them continue to grow in health and maturity, they boys are growing in to young men. And I am so thankful! Its what you want them to do, but my heart grieves for their childhood at the same exact moment!

Piles of books and no baby or toddler in my lap! 

A bin full of cast off toys, baby dolls, cars, baby bags and blankets. Odds and ends of years gone by!

At least the Legos persevere! 

They get on a Lego kick every now and then and everyone builds. Even Daddy! (Not Mommy though, but I get to exclaim over the creations!)

I don't really know how to wrap this one up, its been floating around in my head as I eyed that last surviving mini, not knowing what to do with it and remembering fondly, its glory days!

I think I am going to start a bin of things to save for someday when I am the Gramma. And here is a kicker for ya, if Nate follows in our footsteps, we could be grandparents in less than 10 years! I was 23 when he was born and he is 15! Now, that is some weird, wild stuff, Ed!

Stay tuned...

Girls Time.

Tea with the Princesses was last Saturday! We had fun, as every year, but did have a sober moment of thinking of how much fun it would be if our grandmas, aunties, and girls cousins were able to be with us! Above pic, posing with Rapunzel's hair hanging down from the tower. 

Phoebe as Belle.

Ellie as Ariel.

This little 'sand dig' is one of Phoebe's favorites. They spent about ten minutes digging in this box of sand for treasures. Shells, buttons, etc. I thought we had outgrown sandboxes, but maybe not...?!

I love when my babies have not outgrown things! Ellie is often displaying attitudes and actions of adolescence (which I admit, I had to look up for exact meaning, that being; the growing up stage between puberty and adulthood) which I must say has sent me to my knees already, but still other times we get sweet glimpses of her sweet, fun nature. And this is what I got to see at the Tea with the Princesses. She was thoughtful, playful, kind, gentle and nurturing. Thank You, Lord. Things for me to treasure in my heart and gives me hope that we will not just survive her teen years, but walk through them together, I pray. 

Kiddie pool... or Ocean?

Believe it or not, I usually choose the kiddie pool.
I know, right?! You are thinking, What? Why? Are you crazy?

I was reviewing my Scripture cards and this one took a hold of me:

He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me.
Psalm 55:18a


The first part is self-explanatory. Love it. Thank You, Lord. You will redeem my soul... ahhh. In peace. Amen.

Now the second part, "from the battle which is against me." Yes, there is a battle. Against us.
Unfortunately I am usually caught unawares and get all distracted by the the things on the way to redemption. It's like those cheesy little tiny, barely moving 'rides' that sit out side of department stores. Cost a quarter. I get my eye on one of those and have a hissy fit over it when my God is trying to lead me past it into Disneyland! You know?! I know, I know, you don't throw hissy fits, but I do...unfortunately!
Or..., begging for a nasty grocery store doughnut on the way to Krispy Kreme!  (Yes, I said "nasty"!)


 One of my first experiences of this, the first time it hit me with so much clarity anyway, (because I am sure God has many more stories of times when I had a tantrum over a FreezePop when he wanted to take me to 31 Flavors -Hello!- yah, I detest FreezePops, you can make up your own comparisons!) was several years ago in our first house

(which is a whole other story of me demanding my way and God giving it to me and later I whined about that house for too long...its embarrassing!) The house had gotten one of those quick cover-up makeovers, just good enough to get a sucker to insist her husband buy it because all of the other houses we had looked at were scary dumps that needed a lot of work and we were literally about to have a baby. And at the time I thought the absolute worst thing would be to have to have it in my brother in law's house, where we were living  temporarily. (Not temporarily enough for my poor brother in law who had NO idea what kind of mess he has signed up for when he let us move in with him, and when I say "with", I mean we took over his house and pushed him into one bedroom and likely made him feel uncomfortable in his own house. I am still mortified at the thought of it and hope he has blocked that time out of his mind... he seems to have b/c he doesn't visibly flinch when he sees us coming. He probably still does have to take a big breath and steel himself for it though! Ah, well, what can I say? I am sorry, Mikey!) Back to my story, so this house had those peel and stick floor tiles, the cheap ones. So after living on them for about two seconds, they began to break down and glue seeped up and grabbed every bit of dirt that went by, which was A LOT, we had a dirt backyard and two little boys. Ugh. 

So, one day, I was on my hands and knees scrubbing that floor, which didn't make a whole lot of difference anyway, and hating the floor, and talking to myself about the beautiful floor I would have someday. And that voice in my heart said,
What if you never have a beautiful floor on this earth? 
And I realized the dream to dream of was the city of gold and crystal and jewels in heaven and not only that but I won't have to scrub those! Maybe it sounds silly to you, but it was big moment for me and my God! He may call it something of a break-though!
Eternal perspective! It can be a life-saver!
So hopefully the next time I am splashing around in the kiddie pool and God is calling me to the Ocean, I will remember the battle against me and come running to peace for redemption of my soul.
And I pray it for you as well. :) xoxo

 

And this last one, well, it speaks for itself, doesn't it? How could I come across such a gem and not share it with you?! Phoebe has her own style, and she always has. She got herself ready this day(2005 or 6), and I don't know about you, but if I could put myself together as well, I'd be thrilled!  I absolutely adore her!

The Snowman.

Oops, I forgot about this post. Hehe.

A week or two ago, we had yet another snowfall of several inches. And in spite of our loss of joy over a fresh snowfall, and quite surprising to me, Phoebe decided to make a snowman. Our children haven't made a snowman in quite some time. I had just been wondering how long it had been and sort of grieving the loss of the 'snowman age'. 

Then, low and behold, Mr Snowman appeared! Phoebe rolled the body pieces all on her own, she got Jacob to stack them for her and then Ellie helped her put his personality on! :) Too cute!

Gave me some great joy! 

And Daddy got some pictures- yay!I thought some of you far away family might enjoy them.

My Outlet

So, yah, this is my outlet. :) I am re-posting this Oswald Chambers devotion because I LOVE it. I love that my God brought me to this place where, because of His great love I am able to say I love Him with my whole heart. I hope and pray this for my children and for you, have you fallen head over heals in love with your Savior? Have you seen what He has saved you from? Do you realize? Have you come face to face with your sin and seen the ugliness of it and then when you feel repulsive in every way, felt the Lord's loving embrace? It is a blessed thing. This is the place I come to when I pray to the Lord for my children, 'whatever it takes'. Because this prayer is a frightful thing when you think of the possibilities of what it might take to bring someone to the point of humbling themselves before the Lord and finding freedom. Salvation. Peace. Joy.

But it is a prayer worth praying. And with a catch in my throat and tears in my eyes, this I pray for my children. 

I love this story. She comes to show her great gratitude and love for what her Lord has done for her. How He  abundantly loves her, forgives her, redeems her, defends her... He loves her. 

 Have you experienced His love for you? Its the same deep, fierce, wonderful, abundant love. His love for us is with abandon, may ours for Him be without reservation. Wild. Crazy. Willing. We will do foolish things for human love, may we that much more for our Creator, our Redeemer, our Savior. 

Subject: Do You Really Love Him?

She has done a good work for Me —Mark 14:6

If what we call love doesn’t take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love. If we have the idea that love is characterized as cautious, wise, sensible, shrewd, and never taken to extremes, we have missed the true meaning. This may describe affection and it may bring us a warm feeling, but it is not a true and accurate description of love.

Have you ever been driven to do something for God not because you felt that it was useful or your duty to do so, or that there was anything in it for you, but simply because you love Him? Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I’m not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things— things which would be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him. Have you ever created what Mary of Bethany created in the heart of the Lord Jesus? “She has done a good work for Me.”

There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him even small gifts of surrender, just to show how genuine our love is for Him. To be surrendered to God is of more value than our personal holiness. Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, out of fear of offending God. “. . . but perfect love casts out fear . . .” once we are surrendered to God (1 John 4:18). We should quit asking ourselves, “Am I of any use?” and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time.

- My Utmost For His Highest

Ahh, Valentines Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

In the spirit of said day and love and mush and hearts and kisses and hugs and such, 

I will wax poetic a bit.

I don't know how or where it started but John and I have started sayings things like, 

"I love doing life with you"

Its a great blessing to be going through the 'day-by-day' with someone beside you. 

Doing the thang, the nitty gritty, the daily grind.

Flowers, chocolate, even jewelry are all nice to receive. But they are meaningless without the

  daily-I-am-in-this-with-you kind of love.

Which means, I will do what is needed with love because we are in this together. 

I am in this with you and I am glad!

I will gladly rub your back even though I am tired too. 

I will grocery shop and make dinner and do laundry day after day.

I will forgive when this doesn't happen.

I will stop at the store on the way home for milk so that you don't have to go out one more time. 

I will not snap at you.

I will forgive you for snapping.

I will smile at you, even when I don't feel like smiling.

I will hug you even when you are sick or grumpy or aren't feeling beautiful.

I will pay the bills.

I will think the best of you and speak the best about you.

I will jump in and make dinner because you aren't feeling well.

I will get up at the crack of dawn and go to work.

I will go to work day after day and even Saturdays.

I will help with the kids because I love them and I love you.

I will stay in it with you and work with you to get through the rough times.

These are just some of ours, everyone has their own daily life things to do together 

with and for each other to show love. 

I love my husband. 

He is so good at loving me.

Here's to another Valentine's Day, hope yours is sweet!

SIDE-NOTE:

Phoebe has some friends who are living with broken families. She asked me what would happen if her daddy and I got divorced. She said it would be really sad, she would be really sad. Thankfully, I was able to assure her that we will never get a divorce. We have been through enough to know that if we weren't going to stay in this it would have already happened. Not that there won't be more rough times ahead but we are ...in it to win it. :) So I was able to tell Phoebe without an ounce of doubt, we will not divorce. A week later she brought it up one more time and said, I know you are not going to divorce, but I am just saying, if you did, I would cry like heck forever. 

I know, baby... I know. 

Thank You, Lord for teaching us how to love. Thank You that we love because You loved us first. 

Thank You for giving us strength. 

In Jesus' name, Amen.

This -N- That

Ellie is watching some football with her Daddy.

So dang cute.

The boys are trying to break up the ice and clear the way to the drain for the river of runoff. 

The girls are decorating Valentine's Boxes. 

Betcha they've captured a few hearts, I mean who couldn't love these cuties?