2012 By the Numbers

In 2012 I confessed to being a "resolution junkie" and laid out my seventeen resolutions.  Let's see how I did.

Act in love first, not anger. 
Still needs work.  1/2 point

Speak to my children with a kind tone of voice when I am frustrated.
Much related to #1.  1/2 point

Read my Bible more.
Found out in 2012 the only way for my to do this is wake up earlier.  1 point

Call my grandmother more. 
Better than 2011, but if you know my Gran, you know I could never call her enough.  1/2 point

Pray more. 
Still need more.  Especially in reference to resolutions #1 & #2.  1/2 point

Get home earlier on Tuesday nights.
Nope.  0 points

Use lotion on my poor dry hands.
Just checked hands.  Sandpaper.  But medium grit, no longer coarse.  1/2 point

Shave my legs more. (Not more of my leg, but more times.)
Maybe negative points?  I'll be generous and say  0 points

Do the projects I pin on Pinterest. 
I've done several of them, thank you very much.  1 point

Cook different meals.
Fish sticks and chicken nuggets grace our dinner table much less these days.  1 point

Cut back on my chocolate intake. (I eat a truly alarming amount of it in any given day.)
What was I thinking?  Seriously?!?  0 points

Pluck my eyebrows more frequently.
Eh.  1/2 point

Clean my house more. 
In-home preschool insures this happens.  1 point

Not let the bushes take over the sidewalk.
Sidewalk visible.  1 point

Plant some herbs. 
Didn't even attempt.  0 points

Try eating the veggies I make my kids eat.
Now this, I have done.  At times the portions were insanely small, but I ate what I made my girls eat.  As a proclaimed meatatarian, I think I am most proud about this one.  1 point

Work out. (Last on my list for many reasons.) 
Worse than any on the list.  Should have stopped at lucky 16.  0 points

My goal was fifty percent of the resolutions kept.  And, thanks to the beauty of half credit, 2012 was a year of fifty-three percent success!  Congratulations, mediocre self.  Perhaps 2013 will hold even less dashed good intentions.

Stay tuned for 2013 resolutions.

Nativity Creativity

Free toys make me happy.  Open-ended toys make me even happier.  Hence, we have a box of scrap wood in the backyard.

 

These pieces of junk wood have been many things: ramps for hot wheels, forts, guns for battling aliens, swords for slaying bad guys.  Creativity blossoms when toys come without instructions or "right" ways to play with them.

 

This holiday season my girls proudly brought me outside to see their latest artwork.  One glance and I ran back inside to get the camera.

 

Here we have a Nativity scene complete with parents, shepherds, and three wise guys.  I ooed and awed.  The girls beamed.

 

But there was more.  Over by the swings were three crosses.  They told me this was the reason that Jesus was born.

 

The three year old imparting wisdom.  Stories of truth from the lips of the five year old.

 

Words from God's Word swirl in my head "...do not forget the thing your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.  Teach them to your children and to their children after them."

 

And at the foot of the slide were these.  Their two great-grandmothers, Mammaw and Nana, in Heaven with God.  These ladies whose names are part of our girls.  Estelle.  Marie.

 

I was a bit teary until they showed me God on top of the slide - a giant teapot with two balls inside.  Man, I love these kids.

 

News Update to follow.

 

Messy and Blessed

I have come to find that no matter how much I love my job, there are still those days.  You know, the ones that make you want to rip off all your clothes and run down the street screaming?

 

When I worked outside our home, those days reached dizzying proportions.  Now that I am home, they are honestly very few and far between.  But, I must admit, every so often they do occur.

 

Instead of going stark raving mad, I choose to remember these moments. 

 

 

Children writing notes to missionaries.  My girls, their cousins, and their friends learning about loving and serving and being like Jesus, not Justin Beiber.

 

Living by no certain schedule. Or scope. Or sequence. One that allows us to go outside to feel the sun on our skin as we learn about the heat that it generates.



 

Being the one that knows what my children have going on in their lives.  Knowing what is newsworthy to them.

 

 

This was not always my life.  I thought I never wanted to be a stay-at-home mom.  In fact, I used to snobbishly look down on those women - as if they had somehow sold themselves short.

 

But it slowly dawned on me that deep in my bones, this is the life I wanted.  This life of loving and raising my children.  Seeing them wake up.  Teaching them to read.  Showing them how to love God and others.  Putting them to bed at night without regrets about missing their childhood.

 

Is my life perfect now?  By no means.  It is hard and fun.  Frustrating and delightful.

 

It is beautiful.  It is blessed. 

 

It is beautiful, because I choose to acknowledge that it is blessed.

 

All praises be to my God who deeply loves this messy girl's messy life.

Sunrise School Thanksgiving 2012

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  Here at Sunrise School we have been having a blast learning poems, making costumes, watching Charlie Brown specials, and being THANKFUL.

 

In the spirit of tradition, here is Sunrise School's second annual Thanksgiving video.  (The first year's is here.)  If you are wanting to see high quality cinematography, you will be sorely disappointed.  Lower your expectations considerably and you will be pleasantly surprised at the wit and ways of preschoolers.

If that didn't make you smile, check out the Daily News board.  Many outstanding events are happening in these kids lives.

Still not smiling?  Then I can't help you.  Sorry.

7.3.1 Waste Not

7 Experiment: based on the book by Jen Hatmaker

3rd Month: Mutiny Against Waste

1st Post: Waste Not

 

Sarah Grace Photography

You know those people?  The crazy environmentalists?  The people who compost dinner scraps and newspaper, save butter containers, and dig through trashcans searching for recyclables?  I think I am becoming that person.

 

I used to think those people were just wasting their time.  Like the moron in the stupid starfish story.  What difference does it really make if I recycle or save energy or compost?  The world is still going to end up like Wall-E.

 

But then this Bible verse...  "The Earth is the Lord's and everything in it."

 

Dang.

 

I'm thinking this means the stuff I do or don't do for the Earth matters.  Sure was easier living before I read this.  But I will say, Super Husband does take out the trash a lot less, now.

 

We've implemented many new waste reducing practices.  Through this I have found some things are more cost effective while others are not piggy bank friendly.  But I think it all comes out in the wash.  And by "in the wash" of course I mean in eternity.

October at Sunrise School

Since having kids, time has become my constant enemy.   I am convinced that the births of my girls sped up the rotation of the earth. This mommy doesn't ever seem to have enough time! Can I get a witness?  Captain America expresses how I feel about it already being November.

 

Sunrise School was a hoppin' in the month of October.  We studied fire safety and took a field trip to the Montgomery fire station.

 

The firefighters were awesome!  They let the kids climb inside the trucks, handle equipment, and even try on safety gear.  These kids thought they were hot snot.  And they were.

 

One of them suited up and gave high fives.  Most of the kids were brave.

 

Afterwards, we went to the Montgomery library where one of our sweet girls found a truly fabulous book.

 

And here we all are for our Halloween party.  Nine preschoolers who bring joy and messes to my life everyday.  They are some kinda fun.

Now we interrupt this blog post to bring you late breaking news.  This stuff is earth shattering, people.

But no matter the news, dear folks, have no fear.  One small band of children has united to chase away bad dreams and help clean up blueberry vomit.  They are the few.  The brave.  The delightfully destructive.  The Fabulous Four.  Boogie Monster beware!  (And maybe Mommy, too.)



7.2.2 Goodbye October

7 Experiment: based on the book by Jen Hatmaker

2nd Month: Mutiny Against Possessions

2nd Post: Goodbye October (Yes.  I know it's late.  My excuse = 9 adorable toddlers)

 

 

Give clothes to those without clothes?  Check.  Easy.  Feels good.

But what if God didn't mean just clothes and food?  What if God meant for His children to share everything they have with those who are without?

That God.  Always expecting us to actively love everyone.

Isn't He great?  And wonderful?  And challenging?  I'm glad that my God expects things of me.  And you, for that matter.

This month was a bit harder - finding seven things every day to give away.  Now, I could find seven pieces of junk to give away.  I could probably find double that amount of broken, old, unusable, or outdated items.  But I doubt that is keeping with the intention of this verse.

October was spent prayerfully looking for things to intentionally bless others.  Do I truly require 18 place setting of my flatware?  Five different sets of cups?  My home is overflowing with excess.  I can't even find room for all my stuff.

That God, again with His timing, also had me serving with Family Promise.  This ministry is AWESOME.  They give homeless families meals, shelter, and love in area churches.  My sister's family and I were able to cook one night for two of the families.

Our children and their children laughed and played.  We sat with the ladies and talked.  They were real and honest and funny.

The ladies spoke of the culture shock homelessness has been for them and their families.  One lady admitted that much of the shock was from the love shown to them by "rich white folks."  She said she had been raised to believe, and saw, that "rich white folks" hated them and didn't care about them.  But now that she had been in Family Promise she was seeing that this is not all true.

My heart was breaking.  And what could I say?  She's right.  Most rich white Christians do not love the poor.  Or anyone outside their realm.  They say they do.  I say I do.  But is love without actions really love at all?

This experiment for me is about opening my eyes.  Seeing people.  Seeing needs.  Meeting them.  Breaking down the walls in my heart.

Three of the families were "graduating" from the program.  They have been approved for housing and will be moving into a home of their own.  A list of needs was sent out.  My garage full of donations was just waiting to go to them.

My cup overflows for a reason.

(If you like this, you should read this girl's blog.)