Lunch Date and Craft Time

Today we had lunch with our friends Rachel and Emma.  On the way to Wagner I looked in the rear view mirror and saw this...

...sisters holding hands.  Does a heart good!  It was just so darn cute that I had to pull the van over and grab my camera.  I couldn't help it.

Since we didn't go to Rachel and Emma's house like we had planned, the girls had craft time in the restaurant.  As you can see, they take crafting very seriously.  Almost as seriously as Rachel and I do.  Please note the matching pink bags filled with many, many crafting goodies!  

Rachel, maybe we should get matching pink bags too.  I'm in if you are :)  By the way, I meant to ask you if Jazz is planning another workshop anytime soon?  Or, could you just come over and bring me some peanut butter pie!?!  Anyway, I digress.  We had lots of fun crafting at Boom's.

G and her Cuttlekids (a very cool cutting tool we learned about thanks to Rachel and Emma).  I highly recommend this if you too have a child with a crafty spirit!  

Unusual Sightings

A few unusual sightings this week:

Ella wanted to go "potty" like a big girl.  This consisted of sitting on the potty seat for several minutes, wiping (even though she didn't actually go potty), and flushing.  I'm hoping that in the next few months she'll be even more interested.

She did this about four times in one day.  These pics are from her first trip in the morning.  She had to take her sleeper all the way off to get on.  I'm thinking it might be worth investing in a pack of pull-ups if she keeps wanting to do this.  It's a pain to take the diaper off and put it back on over and over again!

This afternoon I caught G and E cuddling together while they watched Clifford and Curious George.  

There was even some kissing...very rarely caught on camera!

A Friend Visits

Today our friend Eden came to visit while her mom and dad went to a doctor's appointment. We had a lot of fun playing together and only one injury.  So I call that successful!  

Eden says, "Yay, toys I've never seen before!"

Just the three of us- Sugar Plum, Eden and Peanut.

"Say cheese!"  Eden had to take my picture while I was taking hers.

Eden and Peanut's birthdays are two days apart.  

Celebrating and Remembering

The 18th of this month was my dad's birthday. The second birthday since he's passed away. I was surprisingly okay. Not that I wasn't sad, but I didn't have any major meltdowns. On the way to church I finally got around to reading an article that a friend had given me at Bible study several weeks earlier. I had forgotten about it until I happened to notice it tucked inside my Bible. It was about "centering down" and learning to be still before God. Once again I was shocked by the sweetness and goodness of God (when. will. I. learn?). That he would remind me on a day when I needed reminding that all I needed to do was be still and trust in my God. Many of you also know that Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God," is significant and special to me because of the way God used it to to comfort me during this very difficult loss. That afternoon, Sugar Plum and I were downstairs scrap booking and I told her that today was Poppy's birthday. She asked me, "Mom, can we sing Happy Birthday to Poppy in Heaven real quiet." So we did. We quietly sang Happy Birthday just me and Sugar Plum. Then she said to me, seeing that I was sad, "It's okay mom, Poppy is celebrating his birthday in Heaven!" Leave it to a four year old to give you a big dose of perspective. Thank you Lord that our pain and grief and suffering are short-lived. Thank you that they have no place in our Eternal Home. Thank you Lord that you make it okay.

A favorite past-time-fishing. This was taken at the beginning of Sept. 2007.

Me and my dad. Love the vest and hair, Dad. He made it look good!

A photo booth at Disneyland...or Knott's...I can't remember!

The picture my dad kept of us on his bedside table. One of his things I brought home.

One of the things I've learned the most through losing my dad is that God can and does heal. Nothing and no one is too broken for Him. He is the Great Physician. He has the power to heal hearts, bodies, and souls if you let him! My dad and I weren't always close when I was growing up, but we always loved each other. I'm grateful beyond words for the closeness I was able to share with him before he passed away. That I was able to see my dad play with my babies. God has most definitely used this experience to grow me closer to him. After my dad's death I decided to be baptized. I had been baptized as an infant, but felt Him urging me to make this commitment to Him as an adult. I've learned that when you hear God calling you to something, it's in your best interest to jump up in obedience!

Stinky Happenings at Subway

Today it was "warm" enough to venture outside for a little while.  We went to the Post Office and got our mail and then we picked up Hubby at work and had lunch at Subway.  

The Subway workers and I had a small "difference of opinion" about the pizza I ordered for G.  It came out of the oven black and crispy on top, but they proceeded to box it up for me.  I said to the first worker that my daughter wouldn't eat it that way, and could she please make me another one that wasn't so "dark?"  She make a few faces and headed to the back to whisper about it with another employee.  After a short time, they both came back to the counter and the second employee explained to me that next time, if I don't want my pizza "all the way done," I need to tell them in advance to take it out early.  I explained to her that I've never had to ask for my pizza to be removed from the oven early, and I've never had a burnt pizza.  She explained that the oven only has one setting...in other words, I must be wrong.  By this time I was not too happy and the line was getting longer.  I told her that if it was a problem just give me back my burnt pizza, but she ended up making me a new one.  Of course they didn't look me in the eye during the rest of my order, and spit only necessary words at me.  I was shocked.  Our family eats at this particular Subway A LOT and never have we been treated this way.  What upset me wasn't that they asked me to order differently in the future, it was being ignored and treated so rudely.  

After the pizza incident, we sat down and started eating our lunch.  Both G and E were packing it away, when all of the sudden we hear E gagging on a jalapeno chip.  Yes, she eats jalapeno flavored chips.  What happens when E gags on her food?  Yep, she throws it up.  All of it.  

Well, here's the thing.  E wasn't sitting on a chair, she was sitting on her daddy's lap.  That's right folks.  E threw up all over her daddy and his PHS uniform, and his socks and his shoes and his hands, you get the idea.  She'd eaten a lot, what can I say.  

Of course, today was the first time I have ever left my house without my fully stocked diaper bag.  I just grabbed my purse, a diaper and some wipes.  This would have never happened had I had my diaper bag with me :)  So we stripped E out of her very stinky clothes, down to her long sleeved onesie, socks and shoes.  We wiped Hubby down the best we could, at least I had the wipes right, and said a quick thank you to God that he happens to have a change of clothes in his office that he planning on working out in later in the day.  So at least he won't smell like puke all day!  

Our next issue was our almost-naked E.  I said it was warmer today, not warm today.  Hubby had a fleece under his PHS jacket, so we wrapped E's legs in it and carried her out to the van.  But that wasn't the end of it...

We pulled up outside Hubby's office to drop him off, and he spilled his iced tea all over.  Oh well, he's already been puked on right, so what's a little tea?  Hubby got out of the van and said to me, "Well, that was a really nice lunch without the puke and the tea!"  Better luck next lunch date!

When we got home I hung up coats and put things away while E had a FIT.  I could NOT figure out why, all I could hear her saying was daddy.  Then it hit me.  Hubby's fleece.  She wanted Hubby's fleece out of the close.  She missed her daddy and wanted to hold on to his fleece.  I couldn't get it away from her for the rest of the day.  She napped with it and walked around wrapped up in it.  Pretty cute.  Here are some pics of E with her daddy's fleece.  You'll have to excuse her hair.  Her nap was not kind to her hair today.

The girls yesterday afternoon.  

LMP Scripture Memorization #2

It's the middle of the month so it's time for scripture memory verse number two.  For those of you who want to do this, check out Beth Moore's LMP blog at www.livingproofministries.blogspot.com.  You can find instructions there.  Blogging my scripture is another way for me to learn it, so here it goes:

"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8 ESV

I didn't post the first one at the beginning of January, so here it is now:

"And he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom and knowledge.  The fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure."  Isaiah 33:6

Beth talks a lot about wielding the sword of scripture against Satan in your daily walk.  The power of the Word of God is unmatched.  

So far so good with the memorization.  But I mean really, we're only on number two.  It's number 12 that has me concerned!  What's that the Word of God says about worry, oh yeah, it's useless.  

More cold temperatures outside today.  We are supposed to have a -20 degree high today not including the wind chill.  What in the world?!?  Last night Mark and I talked about the temp. and decided that the girls and I would NOT leave the house today.  Not even for pre-school this morning.  I knew from Keloland's Closeline that we had a one hour late start this morning, meaning pre-school would only be from 9-11am.  But I didn't think it was worth braving the freezing cold.  Plus, I'm POSITIVE G's coat is NOT meant for those kinds of temperatures.  And to be honest, I just flat out didn't want to go outside myself.  Then there was a message on the answering machine this morning that pre-school was cancelled because G's teacher is sick.  Please Lord may our house be immune!  If I get the stomach flu for a third time already this winter I don't know what I'll do with myself.  

I thought this would be a good morning to make a nice hot breakfast instead of our usual grab something and go, you know, since we had some time on our hands.  So scrambled eggs and cheese and waffles with honey hit the table, and to my surprise they both cleaned their plates.  Well, as clean as they get anyway.  

I need an extra dose of patience today because the girls are already nuts.  So I think today's scripture fits with my goal for today nicely!

For those of you in this area, stay warm!

Meat Eater

I'm beyond excited because my firstborn at meat at dinner tonight!  She's a very picky little eater, but, for some unknown reason, tonight she ate ground beef that was part of the casserole I made.  I praised her over and over again, telling her how happy my heart was.  We also had to talk about her big her muscles were going to grow :)  As a reward for a job well done she got to have vanilla pudding for dessert.  I'm hoping this will lead to trying other foods in the future!

In the Kitchen

Here are some pictures of G and E helping me cook dinner a couple of nights ago.  G was cutting up leftover chicken for the pasta and E, well, E was eating chicken that G was cutting up.  She also can make pretty music with my pans.

E making joyful noises.

Chef G.

G with her plastic knife.  It took a while to get all that chicken cut with that thing, but she did it.

Meet Teddy B.

This is Teddy B.  He lives at pre-school, but this week he is venturing out.  Each day he's going home with one of the kids at school.  Today he hit the Small house.  Teddy B. is supposed to go with you wherever you go and do whatever you do.  So, after school Teddy B. went to dance class with G.  Then it was lunch at the mall in Yankton.  But no nap for G because apparently Teddy B. told her he doesn't like naps, and since he's the guest she has to do what he wants to do....G is so creative.  Tomorrow we say goodbye to Teddy B.  Thanks for visiting, Teddy.

G and Teddy B.

UGHHHH! Technical Difficulties!

I DESPISE (should I not use that word?) technical difficulties.  I just want it to work when I want it to work, you know what I mean.  I want to do this post now, not in five minutes, and definitely not in an hour when Hubby comes home and can, hopefully, fix whatever is causing me to not be able to upload my pictures!!!  Irritating, irritating, irritating.  Here's some advice to myself.  Put this in perspective MK.  Wasn't I just talking about perspective?  Set it against the backdrop of eternity.   Okay...now I feel better :)  More to come when I get Hubby to solve my picture uploading crisis.

A Matter of Perspective

Last night we went to Alco to buy a new humidifier for our living room.  Our "old" one, which we got last year, bit the dust.  We think it fell victim to E.  She really enjoyed stinking things down the vent slots into the fan.  Not good.  So anyway, we're at Alco and I walk over to the wicker basket section of the store.  

Hubby walks over and asks me, "what are you looking at."  In other words, "we came for a humidifier so what are we doing over here?"  

"Baskets," I say.   

"For What?"  Hubby replies.  Leave it to him to continue with probing questions.

"Storage."

"Storage for what?"  Really Hubby.  

"Toys."  I know what's coming.

"We don't need more baskets for toys, we need less toys," he tells me.

 

He's right.  

Hopefully this new humidifier makes it through more than one winter!

On a more serious note, I wanted to talk about Bible study.  I guess it's more about obedience than Bible study really.  My dad's birthday is coming up shortly, and when I think of him and his death I think of my Bible study.  Let me explain.

I had been feeling convicted to join a Bible study for quite a while, but I was kind of ignoring it. It's NOT a good idea to ignore something God is calling you to do!  I had "reasons" for not going and persisted in putting it off.

Our second daughter, E, was born at the beginning of July.  The day we brought her home from the hospital we went to our town's street dance.  Not because I really felt like going to a party, having just given birth, but we had promised G.  We were sitting at a picnic table watching G play with a friend when we were approached by a woman we had never met.  She introduced herself and explained that she knew who we were from a friend of hers who was the aunt of a friend of mine from college.  Did you follow that???  It's a small world.  

Anyway, long story short, she invited me to a Bible study she was leading at a church in town.  Uh oh....a DIRECT invitation.  "Now what do I do," I asked myself.  Why do I bother asking myself questions I already know the answer to???  I'm a creature of habit.

Bible study started at the beginning of September, but let me back up for a minute to August.  Mid-August my dad came to visit us and meet his new grand-daughter.  We had a wonderful visit and it was emotional when he left.  As I stood on my porch and watched him drive away I had a strange and strong sense of unfinished business.  I walked back into my house and felt God calling me to sit down and write him a letter.  I don't mean I felt Him telling me to write him a letter sometime...when I could get around to it...I mean I felt Him telling me to sit down and do it right that very minute.  So I did.  

I had no idea....Thank you Lord, you are so good!

A couple of weeks later my dad passed away very unexpectedly.  The first person I called was Hubby to come home, and the second was my friend from Bible study.  I didn't know what to do,  I just knew I needed prayer.  She said she was on her way.  

I walked into my bedroom aimlessly and as I stood in front of my dresser God spoke to me again.  "Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10)."  That got my attention.  More than that, it gave me comfort and peace in the midst of utter devastation.  I don't have to understand what just happened, I don't have to have all the answers about life and death, and why things like this happen.  I just need to be still and know that He is God, He is my God.  The Maker of Heaven and Earth.  He gives and takes away according to his perfect plan.  I didn't have any control over what was happening, but the Author of Life did.  Better Him than me, that's for sure!  

So Hubby and my dear friends Marsha and Jodi arrived. We prayed and packed and cried and got things in order for us to travel to CA.  I don't know how we would have gotten through all the "stuff" that we needed to do to leave if we wouldn't have had those two women there with us.  Thank you Lord for friends who help us on our journey.

My fingers are too tired to tell you about all the ways God comforted me and reassured me while we were gone at my dad's funeral.  The important thing to share with you is that he did.  Over and over again.  

God blesses obedience.  Believe it!  Bible study has become so important to me.  It has brought amazing, godly friends, spiritual growth and much needed time in the Word.  If you feel God calling you to something, I encourage you to follow through.  He doesn't disappoint.

I'm not sure why I felt like I needed to share this story, God does though.  Maybe someone needs to hear it who hasn't already, maybe I need to hear it, either way works for me!

Also, last night I COULD NOT sleep.  Neither could Hubby, and neither did several other people I know of.  Hubby and I were restless and felt very worried.  Not sure what was going on in the Spiritual realm, but let's be prayer warriors.  Pray that God would bind the hands of Satan and protect us.  That His Holy Spirit would fill our homes and our hearts.  That His crown of thorns would encircle us and keep us from evil.  I am really learning the power of prayer!

Who Knew? Frenulum of the Lip.

Yeah, that's what you call the membrane connecting your upper lip to your gum.  A little bit of information I wouldn't know if G hadn't torn hers.  It should heal on it's own and won't require medical treatment.  I guess her lip injuries were just a warm-up for today's Marley moment.  She was outside playing with her dad (since it's 40 degrees out today) and hit herself in the face with a shovel.  Right on the side of her eye, but it didn't break the skin.  She'll just have ANOTHER pretty black and blue eye.  So no stitches in our house...yet.    

Marley Moments

On Saturday my mom and grandma babysat G and E while Mark and I went to Yankton.  We ran to Wal-Mark, got hair cuts, had lunch and saw a movie.  Marley and Me.  Marley reminded us of our girls...especially E at the moment.  You know, with the early-onset terrible twos and all.  Not to compare our children to a crazy puppy, but if the collar fits.  I mean, we've had our share of Marley moments, and tonight G added a new one.  She was playing with our little metal shopping cart, no doubt doing some kind of crazy maneuver, when she had a little accident.  None of us actually witnessed the accident, but rather saw the blood afterward.  She split her lip pretty good on a tooth and then I discovered later while brushing her teeth for bed that she also tore the little piece of skin that connects her upper lip to her gum.  Ouch!  I guess tomorrow we'll call good ol' Dr. Dave and see if that's anything to be concerned about.  Do you stitch that???  Hopefully some Ibuprofen will help her sleep tonight.  More Marley moments to come I'm sure!  Stay tuned!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2009 from the Smalls!  Last night we visited some friends for dinner.  Their little girl was born 2 days after E and they all love toplay together.  We had some had good food, built a fort and watched the girls open presents.  When we got home, and got G and E to sleep, Hubby and I watched a movie.  Then we both passed out shortly before 2009 arrived.  I know, I know, we really like to party hard.  This morning we went out for some breakfast and now both my rock stars are jammin' out to the Hannah Montana concert DVD.  E's shakin' it on top of the coffee table.  They are too stinkin' cute.  I was just sitting here thinking back over the last year.  All the blessings of 2008.  I can't believe another year has gone by.  What does God have in store for us in 2009?  I can't wait to find out, because the more I get to know my God the more I understand what a journey this life is.  Oh, the places He wants to take us, the things He wants us to do, the things He wants to do for us.  Exciting!  Blessed are those whose hearts are set on pilgrimage, in whose hearts are the highways to Zion.  May God bless your journey in 2009! 

E really likes the penguin on her sweatshirt.

Shake it girl!

G puts on a New Year's Day concert.

New Year's Day 2009

New Year's Eve 2008