So I Don't Forget- Sawyer

I could, quite possibly, have the sweetest son that ever lived! Today he was watching Dumbo for the first time ever when he called for me in a sad voice. When I came to see what was wrong, he broke into tears and said, "Mommy, I don't like this movie, he not findin his mommy!" to which I replied with a smile, "but where's your mommy?" his face filled up with a smile through the tears and he said, "right here! Hold me mommy!" And I did, soaking in every ounce of his sweetness! Later on, right before bed, he asked me to rock him to sleep like Dumbo's mom, in my trunk. So I formed my best trunk and rocked while singing the "baby mine" song. I then waved goodnight to him with my "trunk". If he ever forgets how much he loves his mama or how very much I love him I will remind him of this story. Thank you Father, for letting me be Sawyer Michael's "Mrs. Jumbo"!

The Nutcracker

The day started with a fancy lunch at one of our favorite local Itallian restaurants downtown.  Nana and Auntie Amber came up for our special girly date.  We had amazing seats!  This Nutcracker performance was beautiful and put us all in such a festive mood.  I have fond memories of seeing The Nutcracker with my mom and grandma when I was little, I still have the Nutcracker souvenir from that day.  I bought each of the girls a Clara ornament as a keepsake.

 The girls with "Clara".  She was an amazing ballerina for her age!  I'm certain she's going places, and she was so sweet to boot!

 Here they are with another amazing ballerina.  Chloe was pretty tired at this point, can you tell?

And the best part of the whole day?  That evening, the girls asked for Nutcracker music, dressed in their ballet outfits, helped each other put buns in their hair and danced around the living room with Nutcrackers in their hands.  And of course, asked daddy to do lifts with them.  I wish you could have seen the glee on their faces as daddy treated them like prim a ballerinas, priceless!

Autumn Mae at Nine Months

 Mommy's precious baby girl!

 Snugglin with Nana

A nap with daddy on the guest bed.  Is it just me, or does that little foot peeking out of her blankie just beg to be eaten?!!!  I'll post some crawling pics soon, baby proofing is in full swing over here!

In My Own Little Corner...

Last month, I took the girls and my mom-in-law "Grammy" to Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella at our local performing arts center.  The afternoon started with a lunch date and then it was off to the show.  I have vivid memories of seeing these productions as a little girl with my mom, at the very same performing arts center.  It was where I developed my love of theater.

 This was the girl's first live musical.  When the lights dimmed and the music started, I got teary watching Emma and Chloe on the edges of their seats in excited anticipation of what they were about to see.  It was as if I was a little girl again, feeling all those same feelings of wonder and excitement. 

 Here they are getting Cinderella's autograph.  They were too shy to pose for a picture with Prince Charming;).

And of course we had to talk to the silly step sisters, such great acting!

And the fairy godmother of course.  It was such a special day, one vivid childhood memories are made of.  Next weekend we have our Nutcracker date with my mom and sister.  Oh how I love my girls!  Thank you Jesus for the gift of daughters!

Homemade Avent Calendar- The Greatest Gift

This mama has been a busy bee for the past month creating this special Advent calendar.  Three years ago, my good friend Lindsay displayed her version of this calendar at our moms ministry auction.  I have wanted it (but have never been able to bid high enough at the auctions) for three years.  So this year, when my paddle had to come down, I buckled down and committed to making one myself.  I'm so glad I didn't win the bid this year, because now I have a handmade-with-love by ME keepsake that will hopefully stay in the family for years to come!  If any of you would like all the instructions and patterns for this, let me know and I can email them to you.  I'm so excited to open our first pocket tonight!

 Each pocket contains an ornament that represents an attribute/name of Jesus along with a devotion for that day.  Each devotion takes you through scriptures that tell of who Jesus is.  Just like the Bible, it all points to our only Hope, Jesus Christ.  The devotions are short enough for the little ones, but deep enough for the whole family.  And the ornaments are a visual memory cue for remembering each attribute, I love it!

 You wrap each ornament in tissue paper so that opening each one is like opening a gift.  Each member of the family takes a turn doing this of course.

 Here are the ornaments (I'm not quite finished with them, still need to fill with fleece, tack together fronts and backs and sew on all the snaps).  The star is ready for tonight's devotion though:).

 Here's what the devotion cards look like.  Each one has a song as well, that you can either sing if you know it or read as a poem if you don't.

 A close up of some of the adorable ornaments.

With the help of this calendar, I hope we can keep our eyes on Jesus this Christmas season, on the author of our Hope and Salvation, truly the greatest gift we've been given!  Happy Advent!

Autumn Just Crawled! (So I won't forget)

At 8.5 months, Autumn Mae just put her first knee forward to crawl!  For what you might ask?  A plastic sword.  I will take this as a sign that my sweetie will grow to be passionate for God's Word, the Sword of Truth, LOL!  A mother can think that way right?  Anyway, just had to pop on here to commemorate the milestone so I won't forget.  And that makes her my earliest crawler I do believe, the girl is going places, yikes! 

Sick Lessons

Lessons during times of sickness:

1.  if you think getting up once a night with a baby makes you tired, remember it could always be worse... like being sick with a cold yourself and getting up with multiple children all night long.  Lesson?  Don't complain, it could always be worse.

2.  When mama is sick, housework doesn't get done... but it certainly continues to pile up.  Lesson?  Ask for specific help from well family members when your sick, they aren't mind readers after all.

3.  A baby's cough can wake a mama from the deepest sleep and spring her to her feet faster than lightning.  Lesson?  Stop worrying that you won't hear them or wake up if they need you, I'm pretty sure the angels shake mamas awake when they are needed.

4.  Sometimes, the whole family just needs to sit around and watch movies all day.  Mindless snuggles when you're sick are very important.  Lesson?  It's really okay to do this, don't feel guilty about it!  It takes voice power to read to the kids, mama's sore throat no likey, give yourself a break!

5.  Even the nastiest virus's/ infections do go away eventually, so take heart!  I always try to remember this when I think of those with terminal illnesses.  Again, it could always be worse.

So what am I going to do right now?  Go snuggle with Chloe:).

A Concerted Effort

So I think I'm ready for some more bloggy action!  Yes, I want to post on here more and be on facebook less, lofty goals I know, but if you aim for nothing you'll hit it every time right!;).  So here I am with a random post to relieve the pressure I feel to only write the deep and eloquent.
- Chloe had her nursery rhyme festival at school today.  She made an adorable Little Miss Muffet!  Each student was to recite their nursery rhyme to the class, but Chloe has a bad case of stage fright, so guess who ended up saying her rhyme for her, DADDY!  Now that's real heroism!
-I'm getting my football gear on tonight for our mom's ministry's annual fund raising auction.  There is a homemade nativity calendar, made by my friend Lindsey, with my name on it!! I WILL be the highest bidder, so just keep your paddles down ladies!
-Chloe wants me to play with her, and they only do that for so long right?, so I'm saying yes!:)  Gotta run!

Sacred Marriage- Chapter 2

This was a great chapter!  I love how Gary brought us back to the Biblical and primary purpose of marriage, which is to model God's love for and relationship to the church.  Our marriages are supposed to be a picture of divine reconciliation.  A reconciliation that involved commitment and sacrifice and complete selflessness.  Gary says, "If I believe the primary purpose of marriage is to model God's love for his church, I will enter this relationship and maintain it with an entirely new motivation, one hinted at by Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians: "So we make it our goal to please Him" (2 Corinthians 5:9)."  We have been given so much in the Salvation we received because of what Christ did on the cross, it should be our priority in marriage and in every other area of our lives to please God.  It's an act of worship, a big "thank you" that we can't say enough.  God is clear in the Word that committed, lasting marriages are what pleases Him.  He gave the analogy of how extremely wet forests rarely have devastating forest fires, so there are some extremely old trees in those forests.  I'm going to get quote happy here, but I underlined a lot in this chapter.  Gary says, "Strong Christian marriages will still be struck by lightning- sexual temptation, communication problems, frustrations, unrealized expectations- but if the marriages are heavily watered with an unwavering commitment to please God above everything else, the conditions won't be ripe for a devastating fire to follow the lightning strike."  The thing that really struck me while reading this chapter is how we  need to guard ourselves against the world's view of what marriage should be.  Gary says, "The key question is this: Will we approach marriage from a God-centered view or a man-centered view?  In a man-centered view, we will maintain our marriage as long as our earthly comforts, desires, and expectations are met.  In a God-centered view, we preserve our marriage because it brings glory to God and points a sinful world to a reconciling Creator."  And really what it all boils down to is that the world teaches us to be selfish, to always be looking out for our best interests instead of going to God for all our needs and then laying our lives down for others.  My prayer as we continue in this study is that I will be constantly reminded to put my relationship with God first, to go to Him when I have need or struggle before burdening Travis with unrealistic and misplaced expectations.  I praise the Lord for giving me a renewed sense of "for better or worse" after reading this chapter, a renewed commitment to making our marriage one of those oldest trees in the forest, for His glory, as we water ourselves with God's word and presence and power to "do all things through Him who gives us strength"!

Oh Little Blog of Mine!

Oh little blog of mine, all dusty and neglected.  I have not forgotten you, sweet place where my heart gets voice.  You see, dear friend, life is full... full of good things and people who need my love and serving.  Your season will come again, so sit tight.  But for now, living life well is far more important than writing about it and time is limited, I must be a good steward of it, for the days are evil and time slips away all too quickly.  Thank you for waiting...