Savior not Santa...

Ok, before you totally tie me to the stake hear me out please.

I have a flip through calendar by Charles Swindoll that I absolutely love. I bought it for a whopping $1 at a garage sale almost 4 years ago. We flip through it every year like we've never read it before. It is called "The Grace of Encouragement" in case you are wondering. It is small excerpts from a number of his books with the page number and a scripture to support the quote.
Today's (the 23rd), says this:

It's important that we rivet into our heads exactly what we're celebrating. It is our Savior's arrival, not Santa's.

When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

Galatians 4:4-5 NIV

The excerpt from his book "Come Before Winter" really gets me. Especially...It is our Savior's arrival, not Santa's.

I won't be getting all holier than thou on you. I am just gonna share my view with you. I used to, with our older kids, really build up the Santa thing...."X more days until Santa comes", "oh, Santa's coming...you'd better be good, He's watching"..."oh, Santa's coming soon...better make your list"..Santa, Santa, Santa (in the whiny Marsha, Marsha, Marsha cry) Anyhow, you get the picture.

I remember having the talk with my two older children...letting them know there was in fact no Santa Claus. Y'all it was not fun. The tears that my daughter cried broke my heart...all because of a facade that is supposed to be fun and lighthearted. I knew then that it just didn't feel right. I mean really...wasn't I basically lying to my children, causing them to believe in something they couldn't see and even trusting that we "knew" him. I struggle with that somehow interfering in their walk with Christ. I don't want that scenario ever to play out for them....Mom said Santa was real too...we couldn't see him either. Trusting that their requests were heard by mailing a letter to the North Pole and then expecting them to understand that their prayers are heard...all the time.

So, with our second wind of children...things are different. I don't feel like that is the best direction for us or them. Perhaps I am more spiritually mature...I pray I am anyway, although I am nowhere near I'd like to be. I hardly ever speak about Santa. Our extended family does quite a bit...but we don't really. We speak about Jesus, his birthday, his life. Sure Hope knows who Santa is and that he is supposed to bring her a gift if she is good (not told to her by me though). I just don't want the commercialism of Christmas to steal the reason for Christmas in the first place and replace HIM with a jolly old man in red suit. Sure, I see similarities in Jesus and Santa...the red suit, always watching you, bringing you a gift, or what not. But I see a lot more of Satan than Santa when it comes to greed, over spending, family quarrels, arguments about finances, lack of thankfulness, houses divided because of stress during the holiday. Well, you know what I mean.

While things are changing here in our own home with new traditions and the direction we are leading our children I am so excited about celebrating Jesus' Birthday with them. And no, I don't feel like I am cheating our youngest children out of the childhood fantasy of Santa...I feel like I have cheated our older two out of truly understanding and knowing from the start the real reason for Christmas. And keeping the focus on the baby in the manger and not jolly 'ole St. Nick.

Sure Santa will be coming and bringing a gift..but it is more the condiment instead of the main dish in our meal. Next year I plan on giving three gifts to each of our children as a new Christmas tradition.
We'll let that be symbolic of the three wise men bringing the three gifts for baby Jesus. I first read about it on Angie's blog (Bring the Rain) and loved the idea.

I found this comparison of Christ and Santa. I liked it and so I thought I'd pass it on to you :)

Santa lives at the North Pole... Jesus is everywhere.

Santa rides in a sleigh... Jesus walks on water.

Santa comes but once a year... Jesus is an ever present help.

Santa fills your stockings with goodies... Jesus supplies all of your needs.

Santa comes down your chimney uninvited... Jesus stands at your door and knocks, and then enters your heart when invited.

You have to wait in line to see Santa... Jesus is as close as the mention of His name.

Santa lets you sit on his lap... Jesus lets you rest in His arms.

Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi, little boy or little girl..." Jesus knew your name before you did. He knows your history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on your head.

Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly... Jesus has a heart full of love.

All Santa can offer is "HO, HO, HO..." Jesus offers help, hope and eternal life.

Santa says, "You better not cry..." Jesus says, "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you."

Santa's little helpers make toys... Jesus makes lives new, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.

Santa may make you chuckle... but Jesus gives you joy that is your strength.

While Santa puts gifts under your tree... Jesus became our gift and died on a tree, and through His resurrection, wants to set you free!

Favorite Gift Yet....

*Pictures soon...the camera battery is dead...again :(

Well, we had Christmas with my mother and father in law. Which at this point they are my second set of parents...they've been putting up with me for well over 17 years. It was fun! We had an adult gift exchange and we totally won! I know some of you think you won...we walked away with a Mama's Pizza (my absolute favorite!!) gift card...Aunt Ju Ju...you were thinking of me, right? I have a feeling she just wanted to buy me a gift ;) I had to steal it from Paw Paw though...I know, I know...but he still loves me anyway. He ended up with our St*rbucks card...so Paw Paw...if you head to the coffee shop and need some company, I know a few Harris gals who'd love to join ya! Oh, and the hubs had some great gifts too but whined a little and his big Sis totally gave him the Olive G*rden gift card. She has been known to spoil her little brother...a lot. We also came home with one of her tins of her homemade peanut brittle...y'all believe me when I say it is the BEST in this world...I don't even like peanut brittle and I eat hers like it was making me skinny or somethin'.

The kids opened gifts and had such a good time. Hope ended up with her Spiderman watch and a sweatshirt to boot...she won't take the stinkin' watch off...it is 11:33 at night and she insists on wearing it. I have a feeling the sweatshirt will make an appearance in the morning. I had to hide it to keep her from putting it on the first thing through the door.

Anyway, so back to the title. My favorite gift yet....the Good Card from Matt and Heather, my nephew and his wife. It was so much fun! Do y'all know about this and I am the only one out of the loop? It is a donation they made and we log in to the website and choose our charity and redeem our gift card for the donation. It is the coolest ever. I wish I'd thought of it. The Good Card has tons and tons of charities to choose from and you can be specific in your search or very general. I have some favorites that I support and lo and behold they were there!!

So, our donation went to Love Without Boundaries. Thank you so much Matt and Heather for the super fun gift and how fun is was to re-gift...and this re-gifting is totally politically correct. For those of you who know nothing about Love Without Boundaries...here is their mission statement and programs:

Mission
Our mission is to provide care for orphaned and impoverished children in China. We provide life changing surgeries, education sponsorships, healthy nutrition, and the chance to experience love in a foster home.
Programs
Medical - over 1500 surgeries performed Education - over 300 orphans receiving help Nutrition - over 650 orphans served Foster Care - over 300 orphans being placed Orphanage Supplies - cribs, playrooms, etc

Now this may not mean a hill of beans to you but being a mommy of two beautiful children from China...it means more than you can imagine. To know there are volunteers that dedicate their lives to serving the children that still wait...beyond being completely selfless it is the work of the Lord, they are using our resources to love on these sweet babies and be servants to these precious, precious children.

Thanks again Matt and Heather...you just fed a hungry child/children or provided a surgery to a child in desperate need of medical attention or gave the child a family to love him or her. What a beautiful gift. Love you guys!!

What's Been Goin' On....

K, so the last time we talked it was Big Daddy's birthday....what a blast that was! Bambi and Paw Paw took us out for dinner at one of Big Daddy's favorite in town pizza joints. He loved it, he always talks about how NEVER gets to go there. But hey, it is his day, right? So the kids and I took one for the team and joined him...not bad...but still ultra smokey...pizza and smoke...uh, not the combination I want. We had Bambi, Paw Paw, our family, Aunt Ju Ju's family, and my parents all there to celebrate. Thanks Bambi and Paw Paw...what a great night!Love this pic of Faith and Bella...Bella's smile stinkin' cracks me up!!

Anyway, I told Big Daddy we'd still go out to eat for his birthday at his favorite more expensive (at least to us) restaurant...off to Outback. My parents ended up going with us and, guess what...they totally treated us to the meal. Wow! Thanks MiMi and Grumpy!! Needless to say, although it was Big Daddy's birthday our whole family enjoyed all the perks....way to go man...getting born and all. Ha!

So, that same morning Hope had her Christmas program and party. She did so well. She is just a really easy going kid when it comes to performing...not too worried about it but does well anyway. I love that! She sang about 4 songs and was part of the living nativity. I have some fairly good pics but they include too many other children...I tried cropping them out...just not the same.

Hope was an angel for the performance...beautiful girl.

They had a puzzle exchange for the gift giving in class. Hope racked up. Apparently the little girl who brought the puzzle didn't pass the $5.00 limit off to her mom. There is no possible way Hope's puzzle book (many, many puzzles in one book) would have met that limit. One funny part is the teacher had all the kiddos sit in a circle with the gift they brought. She played music and they passed them in a circle when it was time to open the gifts..all the kids went crazy wanting their own gift back to open. She said it happens every year...our Hope...well, she was one of the few totally open to the new gift...she really didn't like our puzzle. It is harder than you think to buy a 20-24 piece puzzle the morning of a party under $5.

The new puzzle

A few days later we had Christmas with my grandma Totsie and my Dad's side of the family. They are always fun to be around never a dull moment...someone has something to say or there is my own Hope...she will keep things moving...even when you are ready for her to stop...she just keeps on keeping on. She cracks me up. I am not sure everyone shares my feelings on this but she is just funny. Unfortunately usually loud and funny. The loud is not so good. Especially when the adult men and my grandma are watching the football game. My cousin's husband is looking fabulous I might add and seems to be back to his spry little self. Cutting up and story telling like the good 'ole days. He is on a break from chemo right now and seems to be really enjoying the breathing room...not going to chemo everyday...can you even imagine how huge that is? I am so happy their family is getting in some good quality time...they deserve it :)

K and Faith playing with the new nerf guns

My cousin's children...K and M...such cute kids...can't help it...did you notice Totsie's expression...love it!

Anyway, the kids totally racked up and Big Daddy and I did too. My grandmother always gives us adults clues to find our gift. It is a lot of fun. I totally got most of her clues this year. We got money for new furniture and a new dvd/vcr combo. Why the combo you ask? Because most of our home movies thus far on vhs...and I am too lazy to move them over because eventually that form will become obsolete too. I know it isn't good sense...but it's mine.

Mi Mi and Hunter

I have had a few questions about Faith's blog...well, she's been grounded. Remember those rules she loves that her Dad has? Well, she likes testing them quite a bit too. She is her father's daughter...ha! Hopefully she will return soon or at least in the next few weeks. Faith and Baby Jace...such a little sweetheart. She loves him so much!

Well, that is about it...oh wait...we closed on our new house this past Friday!! Who doesn't want to move right after Christmas? Oh and we had so much fun sealing grout on Sunday after church. Grout sealer is one of the few things we have always talked about but never followed through with...I am so excited to see how long our grout actually stays the right color. We bought the 20 year sealer...hopefully it will look as nice then as is it does now.

So there will much to share over the next few days...hopefully I can stay on top of it...so much is lost in this brain of mine even in a matter of hours much less days.

The Christmas traffic and crowds are very apparent now. The hustle and bustle of the holiday has definitely kicked in. I hope that we continue to take it all in. I mean to really savor the reason for Christmas, another very special birthday of a precious baby named Jesus. Although we like pizza and Outback steak nothing even compares to the gift Jesus has given my family. He has given us life. Eternal life. Abundant life. Now that my friends is worthy of celebrating!

Happy Birthday Big Daddy!!

Happy Birthday Honey!

There is not a single man in this world that is a better husband or father...and that's a lot of men. Sometimes I wonder how it is we are so blessed with you leading us through this extravagant journey through ordinary life. You are amazing. We love you more than all the stars in the sky, or for you...all the red Swedish fish you could possibly eat ;0)

Now...please picture Hope's latest farewell or welcome sign....(tapping twice on her chest and then holding her peace symbol with her fingers up to her mouth and blowing you a kiss)...(she learned it from a neighbor boy...we are just so proud...sheeesh!)

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

Wow! Folks...it is stinkin' cold...not like oh, I need a coat cold but like oh, I need several coats, a hat, mittens and a scarf cold...25 degrees today without the windchill...wow! Around here it just doesn't happen real often and considering it was almost 80 on Sunday...well, like I said...It's cold!

The girls have come to discover the delicious warmth of a mug of hot chocolate. Love's first mug was so much fun to watch. Here is the progression....

Loving the independence of a "glass" mug
Savoring each spoonful

The work comes in play when you actually want to get it into your mouth Uh-oh...this is a bit messy
Wet or not...hot chocolate is fun! Especially when you share it with your sister :)

Christmas Program...take 1

So, last night was Hope's Christmas program at church. She did wonderful. She even made it up on the big screen...a few times I might add. All I could think when I saw her is what an angel she was...just prettiest, sweetest thing. (warning my distance/flash made for crummy photos)
She sang Joy to the World, O Come All Ye Faithful, Mary's Boy Child and Silent Night. She remembered almost all of her motions and I noticed a few times where she changed the words...like on Joy to the World she sang (according to my keen lip reading skills) Let every heart prepare him food..instead of room. Funny.Big Daddy was selected to "help" during an activity for the children. They had all the kiddos 12 and under line up and they made the two men put on shirts with slashes in them. Each kid would come through and stuff a candy cane in a slot, around an ear, up a nose (Uncle Kev got it good second service), on finger, etc. They were covered in candy canes. It was a lot of fun for us adults to watch and for the kids to compete to see who could get the most to stay. Oh, and Santa was there too. Fun!
The program was really good. I have a favorite part...other than that of my own child singing. It was something called the "Cardboard Ministry". Probably 20 or 30 of our own members would appear holding their cardboard sign up during Amazing Grace revealing who they were pre Jesus. Like here are some examples: ashamed of abortion, exotic dancer, alcoholic, bondage in p*rnography, molested/raped, raised by drug addicted parents, died on meth and sooo, sooo many more. They were all very powerful. Then after about 10 seconds they would flip it over and it would reveal who they were in Christ like: His mercy and grace are enough, clothed in his majesty, sober since 2-12-2004 through Him, Healed by the Healer, my life addicted to Christ, raised by Christ. Well, you get the picture. POWERFUL! Made me cry all three times...including the run through. Jesus is just it...the coolest ever! It was even more powerful to me because all though we have been members here for a while, I didn't necessarily know all of these things, it just makes you appreciate these lovely people to share so much, so personal, and then give all the glory to God!

We've been busy....we did take the kids to see Santa at the local bread shop. They have a free Santa picture with cinnamon toast, milk and donuts! Yum! I managed one more year of all my kids in the photo. I know the two older ones could have done without it but it is my gift every year from them. Even though it is free...I still love it. I'd love it even more if it were a family photo, maybe next year.

Y'all doing lots of shopping, baking and gift wrapping? No? Us either. But we did pay off our truck...woo hoo! We had an unexpected gift...well actually we were apart of that gas lease here in town and our street happened to be one of the one's that didn't get completed before they pulled the plug. We made it under the wire....what a huge blessing! We made a good dent in a couple of other bills...I am seeing the light y'all...Carol Ann...come into the light....oh, boy. My age is showing now. :)

He's Here! He's Here!

Welcome to the World sweet baby boy!!

Allow me to introduce you to my nephew:

Jace Howard Reed

born

Thursday, December 11, 2008

4:39 pm

6 pounds 19 inches

Y'all my sister did fabulous! We arrived at the hospital around 9pm Wednesday. She had contractions 3 to 3.5 min. apart one minute in length, moderate strength until around Noon yesterday. They decided to help her with pitocin. She was barely progressing and they gave her an epidural at 4:00, she was 4cm dilated at that point 80% effaced....he practically walked out at 4:39....crazy! She did not even have to push. And he was delivered by the charge nurse...not a doctor in sight. Does that mean she gets no charge for the delivery from the doctor? The nurse who delivered him did amazingly well. I was praying for that little fellow to have an easy exit/entrance :)

They did have to take him about 30 minutes after he was born. He was in mild respiratory distress. He took too many shallow breaths and probably wouldn't be able to feed. They put in a feeding tube through his nose. They thought he'd only be gone an hour. As of 9:15 last night he was still being monitored and not with my sister. Hopefully he was able to join her by now. But to me for barely a 35 weeker...that isn't bad at all.

He has a head full of dark hair. No one got to see his eyes. He is just about the cutest thing I have seen....I want one! Just kidding....I will get to babysit him all the time. He loves to stick his tongue way out...it is so funny. We haven't had a newborn in our family for 9 years....that is long time...we were due:) I love that sweet Jace...he is just too yummy!

Everyone is doing well. Hopefully mommy and daddy were able to sleep. With well over 24 hours without sleep, they were in need. But he is worth every lost minute. Just the most precious gift. All 3 brothers were just so proud and eager to meet him. 4 boys....God give them strength :)

Announcement....

I wanted you all to know Hope has a "performance" on Saturday the 13th at both 3 and 6 for our "Family Christmas" at church. She will be singing 4 songs with the rest of the kids choir. There will be refreshments, Santa and such along with the adult choir...(yep...Aunt JuJu and Augie will be singing). It was a lot of fun last year.

Also, if you are interested...she has her Christmas performance for pre-school on the 18th at 9:30. She has two shared lines and will be singing quite a few songs.

I know it would make her feel real special if you guys were able to come and support her...I just know you'll be blessed by it...they are singing about Jesus' birth.

She has been singing and praising for the past few weeks...I love to hear her sing. She can carry a tune, unlike her mother. Y'all those joyful noise references in King James Version...those speak to me ;)

Now then, don't say you haven't been invited, 'cause now you have been :0)

Love You Guys!

Well, Well, Well.....

*Update*Love slept the entire night in panties!! No more diapers!!
Miss Love is rockin' the potty training!! Can I get a woot! woot! ? Miss Love has had two completely accident free, pantie wearing days!! PTL!! Miss Thing - almost 3 completely accident free days, she had one small one at the Christmas parade...not bad, eh? I expect there still to be an accident here and there but she's got it and it hurts her feelings even when I put a diaper on her at night...she wakes up dry in the morning and woke up from her nap to go to the bathroom, so tonight will be her first night without the diaper...considering she is still in our bed...it could be quite interesting...or wet...which ever way you'd like to interpret it.

The Christmas parade was quite anemic except for seeing Santa as he drove by...well, his float drove by. Ok, remember a while back when I complained about all the pee wee teams and advertising cars...bring 'em back...we need filler in our parade around here. I have been to the one in the big city...and y'all it totally makes ours look plain pitiful.

Santa (from the parade) pointed right at Hope (or at least she thinks he did) and she leaned over to me and said, "He knows my name..."...omigoodness.

Love...she was in Faith's room, who happened to have random items of makeup around her room...well, she found some black lipstick from Halloween or something and she did herself up real good...2 minutes before we left for church on Sunday morning....she looked so purrrrty!
I have to give her props...the lips they are completely covered...now it went way wrong went she went in for the beard...perhaps she was thinking shepard boy?

And lastly, I came into the living room and Love had two of my laundry baskets turned upside down and proceeded to sit upon them and play. She had Hope's "laptop" out and my cellphone beside her...such a good little secretary ;)

P.S. They put in our garage door opener, our carpet, our sod and landscaping and put our fence up...all today! That my friends is what they call gettin' with it :0)

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Just Random...

Hey Y'all!

Not a lot happening here today other than:

*visiting the Washateria to dry 4 dryer loads of clothing...did I mention that our dryer went out? Well, it is in the repair shop (my Dad's friends house), hopefully it will be fully functional soon. I've been leaving clothes at Mom's and picking them up but it got out of hand quickly.

*Went to T*rget to get gloves and mittens...ended up with two coats...for kids I wasn't even buying for...how does that happen?

*Went to Old N*vy to do the same, still didn't get it done.

*Went to W*lmart...purchases completed...along with a brand new bag of 2T panties...oh, did I not tell you about that? I know... it can seem like too much info, but it is just such an important time of childhood and parenthood for that matter.

*Ok, go with me here....it is going to get to the point but I must give you the background 411. I shop at a local owned grocery store. They hire teens and early 20s men and women as their grocery baggers. They all seem to have some learning disabilities and probably did attend the special education program in school. I LOVE that store for this reason...not their rising prices or the fact they just started carrying wine/beer...boo...hiss. Anyway, back to the story I am usually very patient and overlook the fact that my bread is placed under my frozen goods or that my chips come home in the shape of small splinters instead of actual chips because of the sodas that went on top of them. But yesterday, one specific employee...his face would light a room...just so stinkin' happy to be there...well, he put my $2.50 per pound tomatoes under 6 cans of soup and my bread and eggs under a roast and my other produce and then placed my 5 pound bag of potatoes on top of that....I felt that twinge of 'for goodness sakes!' rising up in me, never to be spoken aloud but haven't we all learned...what is thought is just like it was said...that God can see my heart anyway. At that very time Love needed to go to the potty...you know what...I got it...I thought...Lord, I totally deserve to be knee deep in toilet training. I need it more than Love does. Ok...so maybe I lost you during this but to me it was big...it felt huge...huge and convicting...I am still ashamed of myself for letting tomatoes, bread and eggs bother me...at least I have tomatoes, bread and eggs...right?

*Ate dinner with my mom and ma-ma with my girls at Chick-Fil*. Love that place...if you ask Hope her most favorite restaurant, she will tell you the Chick every single time! Went back later and bought the milkshakes...just in the mood I guess. The peppermint one was not so great...ours was a milkshake in every sense of the word...apparently the ice cream was not working properly(according to the employee)...it was way liquidy. Not good. But the cookies n cream one the girls had was not liquidy at all...how does that happen? My favorite person is this one lady who works there...she always says "My pleasure" no matter what I ask for...a spoon, a dish of ice cream, a meal, a refill...the teenagers don't say it so I don't think it is procedure. Gosh, I am random tonight.

*Love made a potty break at all locations including a T*co Bell(that we didn't eat at). She is still doing well. In fact, I already put her in a diaper for bed and she came and got me to tell me she needed to go again...and did! What a big girl :)

*My boys are out of town, again...hunting...I feel like a widow, a hunter's widow sometimes...but that's not funny is it? I am going to the movies tomorrow when they get home...or shopping...if our tree produces money in the morning. Any suggestions? I am thinking about the new Reese W!therspoon one, gotta read up on it first.

*My boys have my camera or else you'd be seeing a photo of Love in her diaper with her panties on top, on backwards that she put on...with her caboose hanging out of the panties...because it just won't slide on over it easy and she gave up. She is not happy about going to bed in a diaper...at all.

*Hope informed us she wanted a Spiderman watch for Christmas. MiMi told her no those are for boys...Hope quickly replied..."Oh yes I am going to get it...I am gonna tell Santa and he'll get it for me" I am not sure where she got this mentality. We really don't talk about Santa a whole lot at our house...in fact, if you ask her about Christmas she'll tell you about Jesus. Sure she knows who he is and he brings toys but it's not the big deal it was to me as a kid.

What a Day!

Can I just be completely honest here? I am tired...my body is tired, my brain is tired....I am old. This potty training is kicking my tail. Every time Love squirms, looks strange, holds an unusual posture in addition to no less than every 30 minutes I have made potty runs....literally. Love did so well today. No diapers all day. We went out to lunch with my sister and mom...she used the public toilet...wrapped nicely in paper, thank you. And then later at the grocery store...we made a visit to the ladies room there too. So, she is doing this thing...for now. I noticed she doesn't completely empty her bladder. Which is perfectly fine...we'll get it. Only two pretty wet accidents...the other few she stopped mid-flow and finished once we made it...so, I am beyond surprised.

I trained our older girls in a week or less and we just stuck around the house...it is a full time job, to me anyway. Love went on many errands today all the while wearing her little Dora panties. Y'all should see her in her panties...it is the cutest stinkin' thing...J-Lo ain't got nothing on my baby girl.

She is doing so good....and she is so proud of her big girl self. I love it! She'll let out a big "Woo Hoo!" with both arms up in the air once she's done. Just too cute ;0)

That time again....

Can you believe this chair is actually for training...my word, that is one fancy potty.

I am guessing Love is ready to begin the ever fantastic journey to the world without diapers. I have put it off for a while now. She has been removing her diaper and standing by the potty and sometimes even going beside it. I humor her by putting her on it almost every time she asks. But, to me it is a waste of time...until tonight. Big Daddy thought she went last night when she sat on the potty. I didn't believe him. Tonight, she went to the potty, pulled her pants down and no one had been in the bathroom before her. I put her on the potty and it was music to my ears...she did it! She was so proud...well, not as proud as Big Daddy and I were, but still she had put it together.

I guess I am going to have to break down and actually put forth an effort to help this child or else she'll need some sort of counseling later in life. She has been in the "trying it out" stage for a few weeks now. I suppose we'll get serious soon. But, if she turns out not to be as into it as she seems and it doesn't work out in a timely manner...well, we are switching back to diapers. I've been the Mom who tries to force it to work and potty trained over a 6 month period...uh, not again, thank you very much :) Both the older girls were easy...almost too easy.

I am not a fan of the pull-ups, I do it all old school. Well, I make exceptions at first for outings and sleeping. Otherwise straight into panties, which is not a lot of fun to clean up and can be harmful to carpet. So, perhaps now we are in the rent house it is perfect timing for training after all, we won't get our deposit back anyway because of our need to move again so soon. Oh people, I am just kidding...I'd clean the carpets before we move out...ha!

I was really hoping my sister in law would have Bella completely trained before Love decided to get all serious and I could just drop Love off for some of her expert training...I mean, we are family, right? Now seriously, is that asking too much? I, myself, would consider it a compliment...Aunt JuJu....you hearing any of this? Call me...K? I've got her bag ready ;0)

Lights...Camera....

Well, I decided to "hang" some outdoor lights tonight. Nothing special just a bunch of red lights in the bushes and trees. We couldn't talk Big Daddy into hanging them on the roof...too much trouble considering we close in 21 days on our new home! I still can't believe it.

They poured our driveway and sidewalk today...exciting times. It is funny, all of Hunter's friends keep us up on the happenings. In fact one of Hunter's friends was home sick today and he had to text him to let him know all about the new concrete. So, I thought I was going to be the bearer of great news when I picked him up. Nope. He already heard about it.

Back to tonight, I allowed Hope to take photos of our light putting up process. She is one random photographer. I can't include most of what she took but there are some surprises....some that if you look at the photo at first it looks like she missed it but once you move things or enlarge things...well, it is pretty amazing. Or at least to their mom they are ;0) I tried to get some of the girls too...I can't believe my first time through the photos I thought...shoot! I got nothing.

Just because she's so cute, you should have heard Hope coaching her...too funny.

I took this one...I thought considering we'd been in the cool air for about 30 minutes...this was good. This one I call....My girls

This is of Hope "dancing" in the front yard right after I lit all the lights....her face speaks to me...I love it!

This photo was supposed to be of Hope and Faith...Hope is hugging her big sister around the neck. Faith's eyes were closed but I couldn't help but notice the look on Hope's face....she loves her big sister.

This one was supposed to be of Love and Faith...Love closed her eyes but Faith has such a look of pride while posing with Love...I needed it too.
This last one was actually of Faith and Big Daddy horsing around and Love was just in the corner but the sweetness of Love was captured and I couldn't resist!

You may just see what I saw the first time through...and if you do, that's ok. But, all these unexpected little treasures in my photos made me think about life. How I can become so focused on the big picture for each day that I miss out on the gift that the moments of each day bring.

Oh...Faith is definitely on a blog high....thank y'all for your support of her "thinking out loud" and forgiving her grammatical errors...I started focusing so much on the capitalization and punctuation that I almost discouraged her from posting. So, I am letting go of that...what she does say has weight to it, and to be quite honest I am proud of her. She just lets go and I love to hear what is on her heart. Last time I checked her site had been hit 80 times...wow!

And Now a Word from Faith...

Our very own Faith is getting her feet wet in blogland. I am still a bit leary of letting her have her own blog. And it will be monitored...do you hear me Faith? :0) If your curious as how an almost teen thinks...she usually doesn't hold back. You can check her out here: Living By Faith(just click the highlighted text) She is truly a pleasure to parent....most of the time...just kidding, I love you Faith, all the time!