remembering

It's been a long time since I've even thought about blogging. Days come and go. I live them. We learn and we grow and then the next day comes and we do it all again. I'm not sure where blogging fits in anymore, though I wish I took the time to do it. 

I've recently been reminded that I have a terrible memory. Remembering is a good reason to blog. And it's the reason I used to blog. A recent prayer of mine has been for God to help me remember. Maybe that's why I find myself here today.

Today I want to remember that I am loved and by some pretty amazing people too! 

My husband is my best friend. He makes me laugh and he keeps me sane. And most importantly, he helps me to see what's important - God and people. He is faithful and strong. And he loves the unlovable without even trying. He amazes me.

Our oldest girl is kind and gentle. She is smart and artistic and stubborn and gracious. She is a beautiful mix of tenderness and determination. One of her greatest strengths is her loyalty... she is loyal to God, her family, friends, and to herself. 

Our baby girl is joyful and compassionate. She feels and loves deeply. She is also artistic and smart and funny. But what I admire in her most is her ability to see -- she can sense sadness and joy without so much as one word. It's an amazing gift. She also has the best laugh. It's truly contagious. 

These are my people. Well, 3 of my people. They are the ones that have the most effect on my life and I'm incredibly thankful for them! I wouldn't be who I am today without them.

the end of may

For a long time my camera's automatic focus was not working.  It resulted in me taking less pictures because I was often frustrated that I couldn't capture what I was seeing.

But now it's fixed. And I'm back! And I will just simply say this: I'm so very thankful!

The end of May brings lots of exciting things.

For one - the end of another school year.  C finished 5th grade and M finished 8th.  That means we now have a middle school and a high school student in our house! This brings a range of emotions: sadness, excitement, anxiety... above all I must remember that there is a season for all things and God will provide all that we need for each one.  He's good like that. :)

For another - the end of May brings Family Camp! Oh how we look forward to our time camping with our friends. This was our 6th year and we still love it.

For we are God's masterpiece...

 

For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10

Truly -- these girls are as beautiful inside as they are out. And I am blessed beyond measure to be their mama.

Changing Seasons

I have watched the leaves turn to yellow and red in wonder again this year.  I have thought about how the seasons bring change and how they are each beautiful in their own way. I have thought about how some days are not as beautiful as others. In fact, some days are quite ugly and uncomfortable.

Somehow and at some blurry moment or perhaps over many tiny moments during the last years, our season of life has changed.  It's still changing.  We are no longer parents of little ones.

John and I have two daughters that are clearly growing up. They are mature and responsible. They can bake and clean and baby-sit. They laugh at the same jokes as us and they have amazing thoughts and ideas.  They no longer pop out of bed at 7 in the morning. And although they pretended that the little gourds we bought today at the pumpkin patch were a family, they gave them names like Nubia and Lupus.

I don't know when this happened exactly, but I can say that it has been beautiful most days.  There have been ugly and uncomfortable days too, but mostly it has been beautiful -- just like what God shows us in the changing of the seasons. I think He's been through this a few more times than I have.  I'm pretty sure He knows what He's doing. I trust Him most of the time. And I'm thankful He still helps me out even when I don't.

(And I think it's about time I did a little updating on that sidebar of mine! M will be 14 next month and C is definitely 10 and a half.)

His Eye is on the Sparrow

So this crazy miracle happened.  John's sister, Jayme, had a baby. Not that I never thought this would happen, it's just that I hoped for it for so long that now that it actually has happened, it is impossible to not sit back in wonder and say out loud so I'll believe it -- Jayme had a baby.

And not just any baby, but a perfect little girl who makes my heart swell in my chest. When I held her for the first time, I couldn't get over how much I loved her and it all happened in an instant. Another crazy miracle. How can you love someone who you just met, who has never done anything for you and doesn't really even know you exist? God is really good at miracles. And I'm usually really slow to recognize His miracles, but I couldn't miss this one.

They named her Harriet Sparrow.  Harriet was Jayme's grandmother. (my husband's granma too, of course) And she was a woman of extraordinary faith and character. The child who bares her name must be a very special child, indeed.  I think it must be God foreshadowing her story for us.  And her name Sparrow?  She will be known as Sparrow to most and I think this is an wonderful name too.  I so often find myself lately thinking of that old hymn His Eye is on the Sparrow, and it's a great comfort to me.  His eye is certainly on this child and He has incredible plans for her.

I didn't forget my password.

Last post was March 4th?! wow. I was concerned there for a second that I wouldn't remember my password...

Where have I been? Good question. Not sure the answer. I really don't know why I lost inspiration for blogging. The ages of my children have something to do with it, I think. Stuff God has been showing me about myself has something to do with it too.

But I won't get into that here. At least not today.

So...

-- In March I turned 33... no wait...34.  duh.  Anyone else have a difficult time remembering how old you are?  Probably just me. So for my birthday my brother and his wife gave me an iPod touch. TOTALLY blew me away. My favorite thing about my iPod (and this might seem silly) is the free texting app I use and the iMessage I can use with several family members, including John. Our cell plan doesn't include a bundle of texts for me, so each text costs us $.20.  It adds up and I don't like it when expenses add up.  So now I can text back and forth with my people without that dark cloud looming.  There are lots of other things I enjoy about my iPod too of course -- like Instagram and playing Draw Something with my girls. And listening to music at work and John Piper sermons when I'm laying out to get a suntan in my backyard. (which I only do to look good for my husband -- because for me laying in the sun and dripping with sweat is almost torture.)

-- We also finished school just before Memorial Day and went camping. It always feels good to finish something big and then immediately unplug and have fun.

-- I haven't made any decisions about next school year. I have ideas, but no decisions. I feel like I have time, but June is almost over already! One thing God has been pressing on me -- I must be more intentional this year about creating time for our girls to grow in their gifts.  This means art and language classes and more time teaching them how to cook and bake.

-- We are SUPER excited that John's sister, Jayme, is 7 months pregnant with their first little one!  I can't quite describe what it's like to see Jayme 7 months pregnant.  It's extraordinarily amazing because I've been hoping for so long for a baby for her and there were times when I wondered if God would give them this gift -- my faith is so weak.  He is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine! And I know He not only created this miracle in Jayme, but He is creating even more miracles through this miracle baby GIRL! Yay!

-- This summer I'm on a mission to get my house in order and get rid of a lot of junk. I'm embarrassed to admit that when in doubt - I keep stuff. I have stacks of paper in this house that I DON'T NEED. No one ever told me (and I probably never asked) how much paperwork is really necessary to keep. I have a whole file cabinet full of old bills and papers.  Time to shred some paper and find more space in our little house. And sadly, I keep other things I don't need as well... because you just never know if you might need it someday. We live on a tight budget, so there is this fear and trust issue I'm dealing with here... if I need it someday, I might not be able to buy it again.  Do you see that trap? That lie?! That lack of faith in my great BIG God who meets ALL my needs -- my real and TRUE needs?! Also -- I'm sentimental. That's a trap too... but not as clear-cut. Anyone reading this? :o)  If so, how much do you keep?

-- I've been reading The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom -- for the first time EVER.  I don't know why it took me so long to get my hands on this book. It's an amazing story and the timing of reading it now has been perfect. Something else to thank God for.  He is good -- really and truly GOOD.

Reclaiming my weekend

One of the chores I dread the most is creating the menu plan and grocery list each week. It often takes the better part of a Saturday to make my list and get the shopping done.

This had to change.  I have too many other important things to do with my weekend.

The first step towards a better weekend has been using delicious.com to save my recipe links.  Delicious allows me to tag each recipe with different categories, making it much easier to find the recipe later.  If chicken is on sale and I feel like making soup, then I filter my links with 'chicken' and 'soup'.  It's SO helpful!

I save all my links on delicious.  Love it!  Here's my page.

The next step is saving my menu plans.  For so many years I've scribbled my notes on little scraps of paper that usually get lost before the week even begins.  I've saved the last 5 weeks in a Word doc, but now I've decided to share my menu plan on my blog too.  Will I do this each week?  Probably not, but I'll try.  Anyway, the hope is that I'll be able to return to these plans and repeat them.  Sounds good, right?

I'll let you know about further improvements in this menu planning process as I discover them.

I usually cook our main meal for dinner.  Breakfast and lunch are pretty simple around here -- they need to be.

This week we have home group on Monday night and C's birthday on Thursday.

Monday:  Taco salad night at home group.
We're bringing tomatoes and sour cream.  Love it when it's simple!

Tuesday:  My work day.  Thankfully I made a large dish of mac and cheese over the weekend.  Leftovers are my friend.

Wednesday:  Broccoli Quiche and fresh fruit

Thursday:  Chloe's Birthday and her choice for dinner --
Hamburgers, french fries, and green beans.  ( I hope the weather is nice.  We're going to grill! )

Friday:  Pizza.

Saturday:  Creamy Chicken and wild rice soup

Sunday:  It's party day!  We'll have the whole family over to celebrate Chloe's birthday.  She picked 'camping' as her theme this year.  We'll be eating walking tacos for dinner, a campfire cake, and s'mores.

And since I've taken ZERO photos this week and I don't like posting without one, I'll share one of our C for her birthday week.   Here's our baby girl in 2005.  Precious, precious little one. 

Our weekend

Our weekend was bursting with good things.

It began with a concert by our favorite vocalist: John's sister, Jayme.  She gave an amazing performance and shared so much of herself and her story with the audience.  The hour went by much too quickly.

Saturday brought along a birthday pool party for M and C to attend.  They had a blast playing games in an indoor pool with friends. (Birthday girl's mom took this one with her cell phone.)

On Saturday night John and I had the annual Bowling and Bruno's outing with our church's worship team.  This is basically a night of bowling terribly (at least for me) followed by eating delicious pizza with a great group of people.  No pictures, though.

And Sunday night...  Daddy/Daughter date night put together for C's age group at church.  John took M to this when she was in 4th and 5th grade.  I can't believe C is already here.

While they were out M made the two of us crepes.... she's so old!  :)  And I'm so proud of both of our girls!

Psalm 144:12
 May our sons flourish in their youth
      like well-nurtured plants.
   May our daughters be like graceful pillars,
      carved to beautify a palace.

I miss blogging

I can't believe I haven't posted anything since November.

There are reasons, of course, but nothing big and terrible.  It's just a combination of busyness, a terribly old and slow computer, a frustrating focusing issue with my camera (that I just can't seem to send in and get fixed already! If only it was free! Ha!), and blogger-block.

But good news!  One of the issues has been resolved.  I have a brand-new computer (thanks to my wonderful job) and I am now able to handle sitting at the computer for longer than my job requires of me.

As for the other issues... hopefully in time.  Meanwhile, here are a few photos from the last 3 months.

Our annual Princess Pack Christmas Tea and homemade ornament exchange.

Baking Christmas cookies with Grandma.


Christmas Eve at Grandpa and Grandma's.


The blanket we crocheted together for a friend's baby girl.  And we finished!!!


We haven't had very much snow this year, but we had enough one weekend to make a snowman.


And to make up for the lack of snow, we made lots of paper snowflakes to hang in our windows.


And we also made baskets! Which was quite challenging!  I'm thankful we have a good friend that gave us instruction and help. Without her, I'm almost certain we never would have finished that project!  Honestly, we probably wouldn't have even begun.


I guess I only take pictures around here when we make stuff!  :)

I wouldn't call this an exciting post, but it's good to spend some time remembering these last few months.  God is good and His love endures all things and all of my shortcomings.  Amen!

13

It's hard to believe, but it really is true -- our baby girl is 13.

We love you like crazy, girl.  You are sweeter than I can explain!  Your generous heart and your humility bless me everyday.  God uses you daily to remind me to slow down and enjoy the moments of life.  I know without a doubt that you will continue to grow in grace and beauty, because your heart truly belongs to Jesus.  His light and love shine through you and it is evident to all who are blessed to know you.

I love you, sweetheart.  Happy happy birthday!! xoxo

.........

I've done a terrible job at blogging this 13th year of her life, so I thought I'd post some of my favorite shots of M from the last 12 months.  As you'll see, it's been a transforming year.

   

I love this one.  It was a shock to all of us in mid-August when God provided a ipod touch for M. (He undeniably gave this to M!  It's a great story!)  We were so excited that we couldn't wait until her birthday.  I love the look on both their faces!

 

Glimpses of the last 2 months

September has given way to mid-October and I've finally made it back to my blog. We are as busy as ever.  The photos below capture some of the fun and beauty we've been blessed with these last weeks.

-Family Camp on Labor Day weekend is always enjoyed, but also puts somewhat of a bookend on the summer.  It's always back-to-the-books after a long and fun weekend with friends.

-We needed a family photo for our church's annual prayer card exchange, so we set up the camera on a tripod in the backyard and hoped for the best. Not bad!

-I was surprised that planting carrot seeds in a pot on my deck actually resulted in edible carrots! I planted the seeds in June and by September we had delicious carrots. Amazing!

-We continue to love our weekly Little House on the Prairie co-op. The girls made bread together and each took a small loaf home to bake.

-Family time! It's always wonderful to eat with family and gather around a bonfire to make smores.

-Last week we had the amazing opportunity to spend a day in 1875 in a one-room schoolhouse.

The schoolmaster had them stand for the roll call, sing songs, and practice their penmanship on slate boards. (and much more!) The girls had to sit on one side of the room and the boys on the other. (yes!)

They ate lunch on the steps of the schoolhouse and were able to play with jump ropes, wooden stilts, and other toys they would have had in 1875. It was a wonderful experience.

-The color of fall is all around now. We just had 2+ weeks of warm weather... and now it is cold, windy, and raining. But honestly, I look forward to being tucked into our little house together. I'm not sure it actually slows down the pace of life, but it seems like it does - at least a little.

I hope you're enjoying this season wherever it finds you... may you be able to open your eyes to see what God is doing this very day in your life and may you have the courage to say yes to whatever great thing He has for you to be a part of... His plans are always the best!

With love,

Christine