Lessons Learned

I've made some interesting observations this week regarding the minds of children versus the minds of adults, or basically anybody over the age of 10. First Story: I was pulling out my apron and rubber gloves, preparing to bleach the girls' bathroom when Autumn and Cayla walked into the room. The expression on their faces was priceless. They were literally gleeful that their bathroom was getting cleaned and they instantly began calling dibs on the chores. There was a slight argument over who would GET TO swish the toilet brush, but it was quickly abated with the allure of emptying the trash can and fetching a new can liner. First let me make a disclaimer here. I clean the girls' bathroom regularly.....as in weekly. Don't let their excitement fool you into thinking it's a once a year occurrence. They just love to be where I am, participating in whatever I'm doing and if that happens to be mopping floors or scrubbing toilets, they're there! I love this about their ages. While monetary incentive will generally entice them into less favorable chores like emptying the dishwasher or transferring clothes to the dryer, some chores still hold pure joy and clearly cleaning the bathroom is one of those. Second Story: Thanks to my adorable sister, the girls received darling Vera Bradley purses and wallets for Christmas. If you don't know how I feel about Vera Bradley, click here for a quick reminder. So the girls have really enjoyed carrying their purses to church and recently several people have given them money for their wallets because what fun is a wallet with no money in it?! I always remind them to put some of their money in the missions offering in Sunday school and then put some into the offering during worship service. Autumn hasn't quite figured out the 'some' part because she thinks it's wonderful to take all of the money in her wallet and place it in the offering plate. I know she's not doing it for how it looks because she would still put it all in even if no one were in the sanctuary at all. And I find this priceless. Both of the girls know all about 'things'. They want 'things' everytime we go shopping, and they're fully aware that things cost money. So it warms my motherly heart when I watch them drop all of their money into the offering plate. It reminds me of the widows' mite (Mark 12: 41-44). Both of these stories heighten my awareness that children definitely operate on a different plane than adults. I think laziness (as in chores) and greed (as in not giving a tithe) are learned traits and that as adults we need to take a few lessons from our children. I should be so excited to clean my bathrooms because it means I have them to clean. And as far as tithe goes, if you've heard my testimony, it is something I had to learn to do as an adult because somewhere during late childhood that concept got lost to greed. I hope my children never become lazy or greedy or at least if they do, I pray that God will set them straight before they have to learn the hard way.

Slush and New Year's!

Well, we're still buried in snow but with the warmer temperatures, it's not just snow, but slush and snow. It's lovely! Every parking lot has gigantic puddles, nay lakes in them. I'm beginning to think if it warms up too quickly we may need to purchase flood insurance.

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On New Year's Day we celebrated a late Christmas with my parents. My sister and her family made it down as well which was an unexpected, but very fun surprise. Posted above is a short slide show from the weekend, but my favorite picture is the one of all the little kids camped out on the floor. From left they are Jocelyn, Luke, Cayla, Mark and Autumn. Clare's pictures turned out much better than mine, so hopefully she will share. I'm apparently afflicted and can't figure out how to use my camera. Shocking, I know :)

11 More Months!

Well, this is the week.  The week I'm going to take down the Christmas tree, and put away all the decorations, even if it does feel like I just got them out a week ago.  It kind of makes me sad.  No, it really makes me sad.  I love Christmas.  Probably more than most people I know.  I love the decorations, the gift wrapping, the colors, the lights, and especially the music.  I couldn't listen to the radio at all last week because the thought of turning it on and not hearing the beautiful sound of Christmas music was too much disappointment to bear.  I had been listening to Christmas music since the week prior to Thanksgiving and it was glorious!  And don't say it starts too early because that will just make me even sadder.

So I'm just going to sit here tonight and enjoy my last evening of illustrious lights, adorable snowmen and winter-scene cards.   Mmmmm!  Only 11 more months until I get to do it all over again.  I can hardly wait! 

My Favorite Things! 2008 Product Review :)

Each year I stumble across such wonderful products that I begin to wonder how I've managed to live my whole life without them. This year was no exception. The only difference is, this year, I actually remember these fantastical (good fake-word huh?) products and figured if Oprah can share her favorite things, I can too. So, with no further ado, here are my favorite things of 2008!

Just Bunches honey roasted oat clusters. I'm SURE it's healthy. Just in case it's not though, I toss in a handful of blueberries. It's now a staple in our house. I buy 2 boxes at a time!

Cory gave me this Vera Bradley overnight bag for our anniversary. I've collected numerous pieces this year, but this is quite possibly my favorite!

My Dyson vacuum definitely lives up to it's advertising. It never loses suction. I have managed to suck up some incredibly odd items because it's just so powerful they're gone before I realize it!

Wipeout became an instant family favorite. The girls looked forward to watching it, quite possibly more than we did. We laughed until we cried and cannot wait for the next season.

Yeah, we just got these Mac laptops for Christmas, but they're already members of the family, so it won't be long before our desktop pc will go the way of the wind and get replaced with a Mac desktop. We even think Bill Gates has a Mac. Just a hunch!

Manic Monday!

Do you ever have those days where you have numerous things to accomplish and don't quite know where to start? That's today! I have spent the past month diligently working on our new church website and I finally launched it! However, working on the website meant I was not working on VBS, and as the director most of my job is early prep. I did manage to get a few 'issues' under control and now I feel a little more on top of my game. I am also co-teaching a class for our co-op next quarter, starting in January, and I need to meet with my team teacher and get some things organized for class. In addition to that, I'm in charge of co-op birthday's and we have had quite a few over the winter months, so I need to get postcards and prizes together! All in all it's well within my comfort zone, but there are times, like today, where my head begins to swim just thinking about it. Now I'm off to finish the laundry, clear the snow off the satellite dish and check on the cake that the girls insisted we bake! Hey, I think that counts as home-ec so HOORAY! We've schooled today :) Happy Monday Everybody! Give me a call. We're snowed in, so I'm not going anywhere!

From my family to yours...

Merry Christmas!

Still Snowing!

I was out again this morning shoveling snow, and yep, it's still snowing. And I don't mean a few inches, we're talking feet. Feet! as in 12 inches on top of 12 inches on top of 12 inches. I wanted to clear a path for the mailman, since we're expecting a few packages this week. Oh, and I need to give kudos to Under Armour (UA) athletic wear and Sorel boots. I had on a UA beanie-cap and my pink and black Sorels (man are they cute) and I was sweating. I ended up removing my heavy coat and shoveling in my sweatshirt! Did I mention the temperature is a whopping 8 degrees? As I do every year when it snows, I'm reminded that each and every snowflake is different. Every time it snows, in every place on earth, every year, there are no two flakes alike. This is absolutely astounding to me. How can people question intelligent design armed with this kind of information?! "God........does great things which we cannot comprehend. For He says to the snow, "Fall on the earth'; Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength." Job 37: 5b-6