All About Phoebe

Okay, I realize I just posted, but there are too many random pictures of Phoebe that I wanted to post. I didn't want to push my luck with way too many pictures in one post...I didn't think my luck would hold. Phoebe has gotten to that especially cute age. She is giggly, and sweet, and everything she does is precious. It makes for lots of photo ops!

Phoebe's first candy cane. We were at United and she was getting a little fussy, so I gave her one. She loved the candy cane, but wasn't too impressed with her sticky hands afterwards!



Phoebe and her friend, Gracie. This was at church a few Sundays ago, and neither girl was in a very good mood so the pictures aren't that great. What is truly amazing about these matching dresses is that they were both bought last February in GREAT sale. Gracie's mom, Tiffani, (one of my closest friends) and I didn't even know they had the same dress until a few weeks ago. Ha Ha.



Like father like daughter!



I took this picture, originally, to capture how cute Phoebe's little leopard shoes were. I just plopped her into the rocker that is in her room. The pictures are great, but they are even more precious when I tell you about the rocking chair. It was made by my Grandfather (my dad's dad) when I was little and the back reads: Jesus loves Jordan. It is one of my prized possessions and I am so glad Phoebe seems to like it!



Phoebe had a VERY big day today. She finally learned to crawl AND she got her second tooth! The crawling thing has been a long time coming. She's been "almost there" for about a month now...today it all came together. (Look out Nena and Granddaddy!) I guess all the progress just tuckered her out! I was putting up laundry while she played with her doll and drank her evening bottle. This was how I found her.

Christmas Parties

Tis the season for Christmas parties and we've been to some really great ones the last few weeks. Eli and I (and now Phoebe) have been in a playgroup for about 3 1/2 years. We started it when all our children were about one, and now they are 4 and 5, and we all have two. It's been a great few years and I've loved watching all these precious children grow up so much in such a short time. (And, of course, I've loved spending time with their mommies!) At Christmas, we do a Christmas book exchange. I couldn't get the "little ones" pictures because they are all 2 to 9 months old and it was too hard.

Eli and Sandler



Sandler, Eli, Landon, Bailey, and Avery



The other night we went a Polar Express Party at a friend's house. My friend, Dixie, is very creative and it was pretty impressive. The children read the Polar Express book, made "Santa bell" necklaces and candy trains, and watched the movie all snuggled up in their pajamas and blankets. She even made a cardboard Polar Express train out of a big cardboard box spray painted black and gold with a masking tape track all around her living room.

Dayton and Eli in the train



Dacie and Phoebe playing with the giant jingle bell. Aren't they just precious in their big bows?!



Phoebe has bow envy.



All snuggled up for the movie.



Dallas, Daxtyn, Eli, and Dayton in on the Polar Express.



Eli's candy train.



We don't have any more parties left to go to this year. They were fun while they lasted!

Check...Check...Check...

I am finally feeling like my list of Christmas "to-dos" is almost finished. I sent out my Christmas cards today. Later than I had meant to, but sent nonetheless. I am a little ashamed to admit that I used free, non-holiday return address labels. I completely forgot to order some and it was time to send out the cards or people might not get them before Christmas (although we did have some friends who sent out New Year's cards one year). I didn't have time to order them so Brad suggested we use all the free ones we get from all over. Mainly ACU and March of Dimes. So we did. Please do not think less of us. I'm truly embarrassed. It just looks so "un-Christmasy"...like I didn't have my act together (which I didn't). Brad, bless his soul, doesn't think another thing about it, and is just glad to have that stuff out of the drawers of our computer cabinet. It's just one of the many shortcuts I took this year. I ordered things online. I used pre-made stick on bows on my presents. I haven't made any chocolate covered pretzels. I signed Eli up to bring pretzels to his KU Christmas party instead of homemade Santa cookies. I sent store bought snacks to school last week (Eli picked out white powdered doughnuts and loved them) instead of making something very cute and "Christmasy." Sigh. I'd like to say it has made my holiday season a little slower, a little more enjoyable, that I've actually appreciated these shortcuts, but, in reality, I feel like I've just taken shortcuts. Maybe that's the reason I haven't felt very festive this year. Shortcuts just don't mean Christmas to me. Apparently, I have to get it all done the "right" way and kill myself or it just doesn't seem like Christmas. I think there may be something incredibly wrong with me.

I'm Losing My Mind

Well, I'm not really losing my mind, but some days I feel like it. When things get stressful or I have alot to think about, I tend to misplace things. Small, random, incredibly important things like my phone, my gloves, my camera, whatever happens to be in my hands. I'll be ready to walk out the door or get something done and find that what was in my hands mere minutes ago has disappeared. I mean, like nowhere to be found disappeared. Since it's Christmas and we are busy, I have misplaced my keys. I haven't seen them in about three days. All the keys on the keyring are replaceable, my house key, my car key, etc. However, I am mourning the loss of my "I love Brad" keychain. We bought it on vacation in California three years ago and I love it. I've looked in all my bags, all the pockets of my coats, all the weird little places that things tend to end up and no luck. I think my keys are gone. They still might turn up, but I'm not holding my breath. Sigh. I really loved that keychain.

I've been trying to post a video of an impromptu Christmas concert that Eli gave us a few nights ago with no luck. I am not very "techno savvy" so it's not that surprising that I can't get it to work, but still very frustrating. Maybe I'll try again later.

My mom made Phoebe a very beautiful Christmas dress. Smocking is just about my favorite thing for little babies to wear. Eli wore smocked clothes until he was three. Brad didn't care, but the summer Eli turned three, he did draw the line. I was so sad. Now I have a girl and she can wear smocking to my heart's content. My mom knows how to smock and she made this exquisite dress. When Phoebe saw it, she started to smile and do her "happy dance." Mostly she just bounces up and down and waves her arms, but the joy is unmistakable. I decided to take some pictures of the children in their holiday finery. I draped a white sheet over my ironing board and got to snapping. You'd think I'd have one really good picture. Not so much. Here is that fiasco.

Eli is much more interesting than Mom with a camera.



Eli's eyes are closed.



"I think I'll hide behind my dress."



Time for a kiss.



There are more of this calibre, but here's the only decent shot I took. It's even a little dark and off center. You can't even see Phoebe's precious little Mary Janes or Eli's cowboy boots.



Maybe I'll try again another day when we don't have less than 10 minutes to leave for church.

Life At My House

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who get up early and those who don't. In my house, we have some of both. Right this second, Brad and Phoebe are cuddled up in bed snoozing away. Eli and are up and about. I've been up for about 1 1/2 hours and Eli has been up for about an hour. I'm blogging and picking up, he's playing "Man vs.Wild." (On a side note, that show is one of our family favorites. Eli and Brad love it because it's a guy who goes in the wild and survives on only the things he has with him. This means eating a lot of bugs and snakes. What little boy doesn't love that? I love the show because it has no agenda or sexual innuendos or foul language or violence. Unless you're a bug. I also think the host, Bear Grylls, is very interesting. I saw him on Oprah about a year ago and I made Brad watch it with me that night. Just check it out sometime...it's on the Discovery Channel.) I'm sure Brad and Phoebe will be up pretty soon, but I do enjoy the quiet.

Here's a picture of my children watching Saturday morning cartoons together. I had a brunch at my house on Saturday and this was how I kept them entertained while Brad was sleeping and I was getting last minute things done. I'm not sure Phoebe was really that interested in the cartoons, but she does love to cuddle.

Back In The Dark Ages

I have had a cell phone mishap. On Friday, I went to United. I knew that I had my cell phone with me because I remember talking to a friend of mine in the parking lot. Then, I couldn't find it at all. By Saturday night (after ransacking the house and car) I knew that I had left it somewhere. I can't imagine how with all the jackets and gloves and bags and bows that I tend to leave the house with. For this reason I do not like winter...there is too much "stuff." Around 9pm on Saturday, Brad ran to United for me and found my phone. Someone had turned it in...maybe it was because it had been run over and doesn't work. When we finally were able to turn it back on, the screen looked like it had all these psychedelic cracks on it. So I am cell phoneless. I never realized how much I used it until this weekend. It' been very inconvenient. Brad is not really very gung-ho about getting me another one, either. I need to find a way to inconvenience Brad enough so that he'll go get another phone for me. (You need to realize that Brad is a gadget guy and no electronics are bought in our house without his thorough investigation and prior approval. He has secret pipe dreams of being a salesman at Best Buy, but that is another story.) The other problem with being cell phoneless is that I can't even call anybody from my home phone because I don't know anybody's number. They were all in my cell phone. I can't even call my parents. They moved last Christmas to a new house and for some weird reason that I can't remember, they couldn't take their old number with them. It's very frustrating. I feel like I am in the Dark Ages when people had to make good plans about where they were meeting and at what time and just had to wait until they got home to make a phone call. If you need to talk to me, call my house. If I don't answer, then you have to leave a message with your phone number so I can call you back. Hopefully, it won't be too long before I get another cell phone. One can always hope.

Be Afraid...Be Very Afraid

This just might be the scariest picture on the planet.



These pictures were actually taken at Homecoming in October on my grandparent's farm, but I didn't download them off my mom's camera until this past weekend. In reality, I love these pictures. They show the special relationship that Eli has with my dad (aka Grandaddy). They aren't quite as scary because he's not holding a loaded gun by himself.







My goofy gunslinger.

Refiner's Fire

Our Sunday School has been spending the last few weeks telling stories...our own personal stories. It started because the shepherd couples (they get mad when you call them the "old" couples) thought it would be a good idea to share their life stories so that we would know and understand them a little better. I loved it and I know others did too because when it was time to find the next topic to study, several of us suggested that everyone in class should tell their stories. As one woman said, "This is the story that God has written you in," and it has been amazing. Well, this morning, as one couple was sharing their story, I thought of the song "Refiner's Fire." This couple was talking about the divorces, the heartaches, and the deaths that they had experienced. In the very next breath, they both stated how blessed they knew they were. It make me think of the hurt we have to endure and how it shapes us into who we are. Everyone endures hurt. It is a common thread we all share. Hurt is what shows us who we really are. It gives us a clear look at our hearts. Not everyone's is the same, but everyone is walking around hurt. Well, guess what song we were singing in worship that morning. "Refiner's Fire." It's not a song I know anything about or really have any emotional connection to, but the chorus stood out.

Refiner's fire,
my heart's one desire
is to be…holy;
set apart for You, Lord.
I choose to be…holy;
set apart for You, my Master,
ready to do Your will.

Here's my confession. I do not like to be refined. I do not like to be held over the fire and made into what God has planned for me. It's hot. It hurts. Sometimes I think this past year He has held me over the fire and only taken me out to beat me with a very heavy metal mallet. There are other times in my life when I've felt the same and each time I think, "Well maybe I've learned what He was trying to teach me." (Please do not read into this that I think God makes terrible things happen. I don't. We live in a fallen world where fallen people have to endure what's been created. I do believe that God can use all of that "fallenness" for His Kingdom...another post, another time.) Apparently, there are too many things that I have to discover about my broken, selfish heart for one period of refinement to cover it. Maybe that's what I really don't like about refinement. I don't like to get a clear picture of my heart and take a good look at all the things I can usually just shove into one tiny corner while the rest of me presents only that which I want to present. I enjoy complacency. I like routine. The status quo is fine with me. I like my emotional baggage to match and be shoved in the closet that no one ever sees. It makes me realize that no matter how hard I try, in my heart of hearts, my one desire is not to be like Him. I want to want to be like Him, but I think I'm too selfish, too untrusting, too stubborn to genuinely want that. Maybe if my heart were to change, then maybe the fire wouldn't be so hot or unbearable.

Next Sunday, Brad and I tell our story. Of course it will be full of all the things about us that make use who we are. Maybe it will even show a little of myself that I keep hidden. Maybe it will just be a good story. Whatever anyone else takes away from my life story, I know that I am blessed. I still desire to want to know Him deeper (whether I'm ready to take on what hurt that brings or not)and that is a blessing in and of itself.