Daddy is hoping for a golfer....

Stuck!

Ian's new favorite word right now is "stuck". He says it for almost every situation possible. In the case of the photo above...... he REALLY meant it!

What you can't see is that he was walking in this position, pushing the bar stool in front of him. He almost made a full circle around the island before I decided to intervene. Thankfully, he was willing to stop for a brief moment in order to pose for me.

Silly, silly boy.

I love him so much...

Merry Christmas 2007

Precious memories....

This is the best spontaneous $3 we've spent in a long time!

Aren't they cute?!

When Mom's away....

.... the kids make a HUGE mess.

Okay, so I wasn't "away". Just in the kitchen-- which is only steps away from the play room.

The kids were playing so nicely in there... I heard the beautiful sounds of laughter and kindness.

So, I decided to peek in on them.

This is what I found. Niiiice.

Thoughts

Here we go.... Thursday's random thoughts, bullet style.

• What's with random vomiting? Ian decided to throw up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. Clearly there was a reason, but not one that I am privy to right now. He is totally fine now. Praise God for that!
• How about random money? Did you know that if you travelled overseas in the past 10 years, and used a credit card, that Visa/MasterCard charged you an "illegal" fee? I got a "class action court settlement" form yesterday (didn't know I took anyone to court!) and will be getting a refund of $25. Who knew?!
• How about completely random power outages? At about 1:00 today, our power went out! I know it's not weather related because it is sunny today. I'm thankful for my laptop that was not plugged in when it happened. :) Obviously if you're reading this, the power has been restored. Wonder if I'll ever know why?
• I do NOT recommend taking 4 children 3 years and under, all dressed up in their Christmas outfits, to a photo studio. Okay wait.... to a photo studio who decides to train a oh-so-very young man during our session. Seriously there were 3 employees in the studio and not one of them took charge. We all wanted to push them (gently) out of the way and take the pictures ourselves. Can you really expect 4 kids that young to sit still, hold a pose, look right in to the camera, and give their best smile? AT THE SAME TIME? I don't think so. The best part was when the new kid quietly said "okay kids, say fuzzy pickles!". No one even heard him (I happened to because I was standing behind him making a complete fool of myself trying to get them to look up). Okaaaaaay.... enough of that bullet.
• I love my daughter's developing imagination.... this morning, I walked into her room and she sat up and said "Once upon a time, there was a dinosaur at Grandma's house, Mom!" These days, most of her stories start with "Once upon a time...."
• We went to Z00 Lights the other night.... in the rain. It was actually really fun! And there were hardly any people there! It is, however, hard to explain to a 3 year old that we are going to the zoo, but we won't be seeing any animals. Reagan had a hard time with that.
• Is there any hope we'll have a white Christmas in Western Washington???? A girl can dream, right?

I can't make this stuff up!

Here she goes again.... my crazy little sleeper! Do you see her there at the end of the bed?

Thanksgiving

I have so much to be thankful for. But not just on Thanksgiving.... every.single.day.

My life is so full.... everything I ever hoped it would be. I have a husband who loves me unconditionally, a daughter and son who are healthy, happy and can both light up a room , an extended family that I love to be with, a home to keep us warm and plenty of food in the fridge. Don't get me wrong, however.... there are tough times... bad attitudes, disobedient kids, exhaustion, frustration and more. But the good times far outweigh the bad times. I choose to not focus on those bad things. In fact, I keep a list of things I'm thankful for.... and I continually add to it and reference it during rough moments. It really helps keep my focus where it should be. At the end of the day when Sean and I collapse into our snuggle chair, we can relax with a collective sigh of contentment. Why, you ask? Because our hope is found in Jesus Christ alone. He provides the peace that surpasses understanding and the contentment we feel. Even on tough days, we press on because we know He is faithful. I am eternally thankful for that.

Most of all.... I am eternally thankful for Christ's sacrifice on the cross for me. Grace is an incredible gift---and one I certainly do not deserve.

My cup runs way over.

Party tricks by Ian...

The Jumpy Place

We took our families to the "jumpy place" (as Reagan calls it) last night. They have an "open play" hour on Wednesday nights--- it's a great way to insure a great night's sleep!


We all had a blast! Especially Sean, who is really a kid in a 30 year-old's body.


My sister wasn't too sure about the big slide (really people, it's big! And... it's straight down at the top, which didn't seem to bother our children one bit.)




Enjoy the photo/video account of our evening!