Holiday!

Guess who has time to deep clean the apartment!  This girl!  Yay!  I've been on Christmas Break all week and I've been sOoOo HaPpY!!!  I love having time to do deep cleaning in my home.  It's so therapeautic.  But not only do I have time to deep clean, I have time to rearrange my furniture!  Because my apartment is so tiny, I have to make good use of the little space I have.  My living room is also my office.  :-)

 

My little guy, Sean, is a huge goofball.  After both boys dressed for Christmas pictures, Sean would not keep still for any practice shots at all.  He laughed, smiled with his eyes closed, made monkey faces, and kissey faces.  He definitely made it a lot of fun!

 

Caden is a bit more cooperative when it comes to picture taking.  He has always been my cheeser.  When I take pictures of him he usually asks me if he "smiled good."  Although Caden has his goofball moments, he is definitely more of a sweetheart. 

 

I stayed inside while the boys played in the snow.  I am such a baby when it comes to the cold.  The kids, all kids I suppose, play as if they couldn't feel the cold at all.  They threw snow at each other, made snow angels, and just laughed a lot.  I am so thankful for a white Christmas.  Caden and Sean love that Christmas looks different than the other seasons.  It comes with warm drinks, fires, presents and decorated trees.  But mostly, it comes white... if we're blessed enough.  :-)

 

Wherever and however you're spending Christmas, I hope it is filled with love and laughter.  And most of all I hope it is filled with your children's hugs.

 

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The Joy of Art

Colors
All shades
Happiness
Waxy happiness
Giggling
Funny faces
Accomplishment
Look what I did!
Robots
Penguins
Snowman
Me
Anything I want
All colors
Happiness
Free

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The Mind Changer

Leaving our apartment at sunrise, the boys didn't want to go to school.

"Caden, it's a beautiful morning. You're going to have fun. "

"No it's not. It's cold."

"But look at the sky!"

He stops and looks. His frown disappears. His eyes widen.
"Mommy. It's beautiful!"

"Isn't it? I think you're going to have fun today."

"Yeah."

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Kids

A poem I wrote a while ago. Enjoy!

Little socks
Little shoes
Little underwear
Giant squeals of laughter
Toys are everywhere

Snacks are needed
Thirsty too
The dog is wanting out
Dishes sit unwashed
And the TV's just too loud

Crayons rubbed
Onto the walls
The juice is on the floor
Someone bumped his head
And the dog is at the door

Ice pack healing
Pick up toys
Where did Caden go?
Wipe the spills, erase the purple
Follow Cheerios

Sean hugging
" I love you mommy"
Caden jumps "Surprise!"
Crumpled flowers just for me
Oh how God's blessed my life!

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Featured Poem- The Invitation

I want to share this because it is beautiful.

The Invitation by Oriah

It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.
I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.
It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.
I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”
It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.
It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.

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Peace

I am where I am meant to be. And I am at peace with that.
Sometimes I get frustrated that I don't have more time, more money, more skills, etc. and every once in a while, like tonight, I stop and remember that God has me.
He has never let me go, even when I wonder if He has. I am where I am meant to be. And I am at peace with that.
Sometimes it feels as if I were in a tornado with everything moving so fast I feel as if I might get thrown in the winds. Time always feels like its running out. Money sometimes feels like it might just all slip away. And every once in a while I stop and remember that like a mom holding her crying baby, my God is holding me and whispering that I am safe.
I am exactly where I am meant to be. And I find peace in that.

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Weird Sky Day

Today was cold and gloomy. The sky had a weird darkness to it.

But even then, I thought the sky looked really cool. It reminded me of one of those Tim Burton movies.

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Thursday Sunrise

I love driving to work in the morning. Today, my kids sang "The Ants Go Marching" as the sun rose.

Sean laughed as he sang the wrong words

and Caden got mad at him.

 

 

When we got to Sean's daycare, we all sat in the car and gazed out the windshield.

Caden said,

"Mom, it looks like the sky blew up!"

And it did.

The sky exploded with the sun's beauty,

sending the clouds

sailing over us.

An announcement that the day is starting.

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If you're happy and you know it

Clap your hands!

Of the three ferrets, Squish is Caden's favorite.  She was neglected when I got her.  Skinny (you could see hip bones even) and with a bald tail (sign of stress), she was never really outgoing.  While my male, Sammy, was always the happy-go-lucky crazy ferret, Squish has always been more mellow and happy to just cuddle. 

Last night Caden and Squish were just too cute.  They were both in my tiny kitchen as I was cooking.  They sat together just hanging out.  Then, Caden thought it was just easier to lay down so Squish could lay on him.  Later Caden came back into the kitchen eating his Teddy Grahams.  Squish wanted to check it out, so he let her sniff it.  She wasn't interested in eating it- she was just being nosy lol.

 

Then, to ensure all cuteness was recorded, I caught him singing If You're Happy And You Know It, using Squish as a prop.  You've gotta see the YouTube video.

 



 

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Sunrises

You are my sunshine.

My only sunshine.

You make me happy

when skies are gray!

 

Sunrises here are incredible.  I try to catch them every morning.

 

This was above a basebally field by Sean's daycare.

 

A friend of mine said,

"That sky is either really cool

or really scary."

I think it's really cool.  :)

Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
– Hosea 6:3

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