Happy New Year!

found it!

I found the camera. THANK YOU LORD!!! Just thought you should know.

Guess what we did last night!

One of our good friends was in town last night with his wife and Big Daddy wanted to go visit for a bit. So when he left it was getting close to bed time. With the little ones bathed and my uncontrollable urge to keep the Christmas spirit alive, we popped some popcorn and watched "Shrek the Halls!" Is that crazy? Most years, I am so glad to have just made it through. But this year I just don't want to hang it up! When I finally post about what I did over my Christmas vacation, maybe you will understand why. It was a great one! Now I am off to find the new camera Big Daddy got me for Christmas. It's cute, pink and small enough to fit in my pocket. It's just what I wanted to have handy so I don't miss a shot. The only problem.....it's small enough to fit in my pocket. Which MEANS...I have misplaced it. Please pray that I find it because the pictures on the memory card are priceless. Wish me luck!

Merry Christmas!

If you didn't get one of these Christmas cards from us this year, don't feel bad. Very few did! They took longer than we thought they would to come in. So I printed off a few at Walgreens and sent them to out of town family. My plan was to grab them on Monday, rush to the post office (kids in tow), run in and buy stamps (it was 22 degrees) and mail them before rushing off to our Christmas with Big Daddy's family. Then I stopped myself. Why? If I did it that way, I would be totally stressed and would most likely snap at my children and Big Daddy more than once. If I let go of my obsessive compulsiveness for one second and put my family first, we could get there without rushing around while barking orders at each other. Then I would have time to curl Claire's beautiful hair while watching a Christmas movie all cozy by the fire! (That sounds way better!) Besides, most of the people who would be getting these cards will read this blog and won't be horribly upset if they don't get a card this year. AND many may have gotten some the day AFTER Christmas which would normally be unheard of in my book! I guess what I'm trying to say is that I had a major breakthrough this year. It isn't about pleasing everyone else. My priority is making the holidays enjoyable for my children, not running them all over town in the FREEZING cold just to get some cards out. It is about taking time to enjoy a DVD Big Daddy so thoughtfully put together of footage from our old video camera that I thought was long gone (Claire was seriously like 10 minutes old.). It's about making a gingerbread house on Christmas Eve with the kids even if I do have a zillion things to do before we leave for dinner. I will still do my best to be thoughtful and do nice things over the holidays, but not at the expense of my children and Big Daddy. It was a little hard to come to terms with that, but once I did....man oh man did we have a WONDERFUL Christmas. We had so much more time to focus on what this season is really about. The birth of our SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST! It was a great week and I will post more later. Right now I am busy getting to know the newest member of our family. I haven't named her yet....but she is awesome.

THANKS MOMMA!!!

Gotta Go!!! My Grammy is calling me!!!!!!!

You prance. I'll Dash.

Those exact words came from my 4 year old today. She and Cohen have been playing some great reindeer games lately. Claire has gone so far as to rub her nose on the chalkboard (which is written on with red chalk) so she will have a red nose! I now have to refer to them as Prancer and Dasher as I cheer for them. I have been instructed to yell, "Wahoo Prancer! Great prancing!" and "GOOO Dasher! You dash SOOO fast!" It's really quite entertaining. Looks like we will be playing reindeer games well into the new year! But that will definitely be a catch phrase around our house for a while. "You prance. I'll dash!"

Does it ever truly go away?

**Update** You all should know that my husband does not share my views on this one! That's okay though...he pretty much has the final say around here anyway! Love you Big Daddy!

Two years ago, Big Daddy decided together that we were officially "done" having children. One boy, one girl....we are set. But answer me this. Will I ever really feel like I'm done? Will I ever be totally okay with not having a little one to cuddle? I'm sure my family (who was so supportive when I was miserable while pregnant with Coco) would like to remind me of how we ALL suffered through my last pregnancy. But I am a completely different person than I was two years ago. I can't help but wonder how my new found faith in our Lord would change the way I dealt with pregnancy. I can't help but wonder if we screwed up. NO Big Daddy, I am not saying you need to hit up the Shepard's reversal doctor! But I know, based on scripture, that I was not obedient to the Lord. HE is the one who is supposed to open and close the womb...not Dr. McClippy. (No, that's not his real name!) Please know that I do NOT take this post lightly. I am really going out on a limb here sharing my heart.

I have seen so many people struggle to get pregnant and I feel worse each story I hear. I am perfectly capable of carrying healthy children to term. Was I selfish to just put a stop to it just like that? What makes me think that I know better than God? Whoooweee, I certainly think a lot of myself now don't I? Ugh.

So for now, I will still be a little disappointed every time that day rolls around when my body tells me that I am no doubt withOUT child. Of course....that should have happened last week. **wink wink** But I will accept that the longing I feel is God's way of reminding me that HE is in control. Maybe I will think twice before making such a huge decision without consulting long and hard with scripture.

Created to be his Helpmeet

In the past I have mentioned my Bible study that I did starting last summer. I went into it not really knowing what to expect. (Probably because I had never done a Bible study before!!) I never imagined how it would change my life. I have wanted to sum it up for you but never really found the right words to do it justice. My biggest fear was using the word "submission." In this day and age, it has such negative undertones and I wasn't sure I could define the word without making it sound simply archaic. But leave it to MckMama. This post is almost exactly what I would have said if I had the ability to put it so eloquently. If you are a newlywed, read her post. If you are an "oldywed" and aren't happy, read her post. If you are perfectly content, read her post. There is bound to be something in there that you will benefit from even if it is just a feeling of accomplishment knowing that you are trying your very best to achieve the model God has given us for marriage. If you are like me, you will be reminded that you still have room for improvement! I just really liked her post and I hope you do too!

PS When I just spellchecked, the spellchecker suggested the words oldened and mildewed for the word "oldywed"! I don't mind being oldened and mildewed....as long as Big Daddy is right there beside me!