Growing up...

I just realized this last week that Abby doesn't say many of her fun "baby" words any more:

**She doesn't pray that Aunt Bekah will be safe in the "Eminican Repuglic" (Dominican Republic)... 

**She no longer calls the blooms on a plant "flalors"...

My baby is growing up... she says it all right all the time now :(  I think she still says "nusic" though :)  

Christmas fun...

Sorry this is so late... but I did promise some pictures :)

Monkey...

Tonight, as the kids study their AWANA verses, I was wiping down the mirror in the kids' bathroom (you know, taking every moment captive...) when Seth came in to brush his teeth.  He looked at me up on top of their bathroom counter, then proceeded to work on his dental hygiene.  

After a few minutes, I hopped down and examined my handiwork and climbed back up to do the final touch ups (keep in mind that I had no other options... the mirrors in their bathroom is from the counter top up to the ceiling). 

On the way out, Seth said:

"Mom, when you were cleaning our mirror, you looked like a monkey, a really BIG monkey..."

I guess that's a compliment... coming from Seth :)

It's Worth It

Last weekend I went on a women's leadership retreat.  This was more of a "sharing ideas" and "networking" retreat, not a "learn something new" conference.  It was encouraging to me to hear all that God is doing in the different churches in our Fellowship of Grace Brethren churches in California!  What a blessing to be able to safely share struggles, thoughts, concerns, praises, goals, concepts, etc. with sisters that I've never met, but have an immediate bond because we are in the same district and fellowship.  I was challenged to excel still more as I listened and witnessed the love and passion that these women have for our Lord and their desire to serve Him.

One of the last sessions, one of the pastor's wives was sharing about a church plant.  She told us about the obstacles that they had encountered in their building project... the electrician quit in the middle of the project and her husband, the pastor, took over his job and spent countless hours day and night wearing an additional hat.  She shared about her heart struggle of asking, "Is it worth it?"  

Tonight, Matthew left to go up the mountain to Big Bear for the annual High School Retreat.  He has been attempting (no very successfully) to fight off being sick this last week.  He didn't go to work today and spent a good part of the day sleeping (in preparation for a sleepless weekend).  I know that he will be fine and that he needs to be at the retreat, but I still find myself asking, "Is it worth it?" 

My conclusion, along with the pastor's wife that shared last weekend, is a humble and heartfelt, "Yes, it's worthy it!"  All our efforts, sacrifices, and time is WORTH IT, if what we are doing is motivated by God's grace.  God's work is always WORTH IT, regardless of how foolish it may seem to the world (I Corinthians 1)!  I am blessed to have a husband that is willing to heed God's call to pour his life into serving His Lord with all diligence and to equip the saints for the work of service (Eph 4:12).  I am thankful that my children have a clear understanding and example of what it means to "...work heartily, as for the Lord" (Col 3:23).  

Lord, may our work not be a work of the flesh, which results in fruitless legalism, but work that is empowered and led by the Holy Spirit, which leads to acts of worship and results in joy.  May You find pleasure in our service to You.  May my heart always shout, "IT'S WORTH IT!", because You are worth it... all of it!!! 

Right Before You Get Old...

Matthew always asks Abby is she would take care of him when he gets old.  I guess there is no harm in paving the way :)  Today, Abby had a request for me when I picked her up from school:

Mommy?  Remember when I promised Daddy that I'd make him nachos when he gets old?  Do you think... could you... right before you get old, could you buy me some chips and the long kind of cheese so that I can make nachos for Daddy?  I don't have a lot of money and I can't drive to the store.  So, could you get that for me... not right now, just right before you get old???

Sometimes, you've just have to wonder what goes on in those little brains :)

Packing Up

As a child, my family didn't celebrate Christmas.  There were no trees, no lights on the house, no stockings on the mantle... there might have been gifts, but I don't really remember why.  So, Christmas is actually kind of a new holiday for me, ever since I got married :)  I love the lights on the house and the ornament laden tree and all the decorations!!!  But with all the time and effort to make our home "Christmassy", the clean up is just as time consuming.

Today, I had only one thing on my "to do" list  -- de-Christmas our house.  I was determined to do it as quickly as possible (before I had to pick up Abby at lunch time)!  I zipped through the house taking down all the beautiful cards that we received, undecorated the garlands and lights off of our stairs, took all the ornaments off the tree... 

Here, I caught a snag in my time table :)  Instead of quickly, but carefully rewrapping each ornament and putting them all back into the ornament box, I sat and relished the memories behind each ornament.   There were so many, and each one ever so special!  I love the ones that each of the kids received on their 1st Christmas.  I love the ones that were hand crafted by the special members of our family.  I love all the different ones that we received for our wedding (we were married on the 21st of December, so we got great ornaments!!!).  I love the ones we've collected as our "special family ornament of the year".  Oh, how I love this part about our Christmas tradition!!!  I realized today, that ever since our children are old enough to decorate the tree, I've missed this part of Christmas.  Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade the fun and chaos of seeing my kids racing to decorate the tree (and putting them all in one small corner =) !!!), but I do miss the quiet reflection of unwrapping each ornament and recalling the memories that came with each one.  As I sat and savored my moment of quiet, I was overwhelmed with God's grace and goodness to me and my family!  I am thankful that our culture celebrate Christmas extravagantly, not because I like to be extravagant, but because God's love was so extravagant in sending His Son to us!!!

If you are wondering, I did finish packing stuff away before having to get Abby :)  I took a quick lunch break and got all the outside lights down and packed away before dragging out the very dry and naked tree :(.  All that, before having to pick up the boys from school at 3:00 pm.

 Aren't you sooooo impressed???  LOL!  I think I did manage to kill our vacuum though... SIGH...

I promise to post pictures and stories from Christmas and more very soon... I am still figuring out this Mac :{

Sunday Funnies

At lunch today, we were discussing the difference between adjectives and adverbs. After Matthew's brief definitions of an adjective and an adverb:

Isaac: "Daddy, could you give me an example of an adverb?"

Matthew: "An adverb usually ends in 'ly'..."

Isaac: "Oh! Like slowly, quickly, happily, angrily..."

Seth: "What about peanut-butter-and-jelly?!?"