ROOOMIE!!!

I am trying to email you and it keeps coming back undeliverable! Email me so I have your current email and can send you my note!

So glad you found wewawo!

:)

Winter Wonderland...Georgia style

This is what a snowy, metro-wide shut down looks like on our front lawn. I know, its really hysterical to my northern co-horts...this is just a typical beautiful looking day in September to you...hahaha.

However, down here, this level of dramatic dusting constitutes a total shut down and eggs, milk, and bread being torn off the shelves and arm wrestled for in the aisles of the grocery store in the days leading up to the impending doom. My neighbor coined the term "Survival Casserole" to explain what it is exactly people make with all the milk, eggs and bread people obsessively buy in the days leading up to the threat of snow in the south.

We all knew the hopeful possibility of a snow day today when we went to bed last night. When my alarm went off this morning, sure enough, the first thing I heard was that schools were closed metro-wide. For most all of you who don't understand this...the best explanation I can muster without laughing too hard is that, truly, we are not equipped down here at all to deal with any snow or ice on the roads. We have no salt/sand trucks heading out in the wee hours of the morning to make our commutes safe. People don't own shovels. Most have never heard of a snow plow. We are literally paralyzed by 1 inch of snowy dust on the ground and ice on the roads. Not to mention noone knows how to drive down here on anything less than sunny, dry pavement, so all our lives are at risk if we dared venture out on such a day as this. Better to just shut the city down and stay alive! :)

So back to the snow day...the kids gleefully put on a pathetic mish-mash of what they deemed "cold weather gear" and ran out to frolick in the...in the...in the...oh what a buzz kill. Grace contemplated laying on the patio to try a snow angel, and Sarah aparantly licked the ground. But that was about it. And being that it is only 15 degrees here, which is truly BRUTAL for the south, they quickly changed their plans, headed back in, popped some popcorn and headed down for some tv.

Ahhh, life in the south. We are so sheltered from the realities of my beloved Minnesotans up yonder. Go ahead and laugh at us, you deserve it, you people are hardy stock!

Merry Christmas letter 2009

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head. The stars in the sky looked down where He lay. The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

In 2009...

We enjoyed… birthday parties, a bedroom makeover, children’s choir, smiles, sleepovers, visits from family and friends, coffee dates, art class, family movie nights, church, dinner parties, family gatherings, swim meets, sweet friendships, fire pit evenings, ballet, beach vacations, giggles, dress up, dancing, Minnesota trips, hugs, tennis, lots of tooth fairy action, bible studies, laughter, joy, love, blessings, each other.

We endured… 2 broken arms, sister wars, chaos, lots of laundry, fights, tears, strong wills, meetings, discipline issues, overflowing paperwork, sleepless nights, illness, bills, car trouble, lost belongings, job angst, carpooling, a difficult economy, worry, fear, sadness, pain, sin.

We embraced…forgiveness, growth, comfort, healing, hope, peace, love, grace,…Jesus.

Joy to the world, the Lord has come! Let earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare Him room. And Heaven and nature sing!

Family Updates…

Evie Jill is a wonderful 5th grader who is blossoming into a lovely young lady both inside and out. She excels in year-round swimming, adores her friends, laughs maniacally and gestures wildly (some would say exactly like her mother), reads voraciously, and recently started tennis lessons.

Mady is a precious 3rd grader with a tender heart of gold. She is soft-spoken, imaginative, creative and tidy. She is excelling in a year-round art class, enjoys children’s choir and spending lots of time with her friends. She is our tiny treasure.

Sarah Rosy is a 1st grader and continues to be our little firecracker! She is enjoying children’s choir and becoming a great reader. It seems she lost about half her teeth at once over the summer, and also suffered a terrible break of both bones in her arm which she weathered for 10 weeks with her usual charm. From one mood swing to another, she keeps us laughing and loving her feisty and joyful personality, and admiring her compassionate and serving heart.

Gracie Goo, my partner, my sidekick. She is totally a mommy’s girl. It is my last year with her at home before I send her off into the world. She is ready. I am not. She is a deliciously lovable 4 ½ year old who is branching out with a ballet class. She is lost without her thumb and bunny, broke her arm this year, is learning to write letters, adores Sarah, and has spent the entire past year wearing orange.

CJ and I celebrated 14 years of marriage in May, and 20 years since our first date, on December 3. We are getting away by ourselves for a weekend this month, and are humbly grateful to our loving God for the kindness and grace He shows us through the triumphs and trials of life. May we always enjoy, endure, and embrace them.

We love you, and look forward to hearing from you and seeing your beautiful, smiling faces flood our mailbox. MERRY CHRISTMAS! And HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wordless Wednesday

yet another member of our household who knows how to make a nap look good on this rocking chair

Happy Halloween!

Somehow I manage to pull it off every year!



I may be sweaty, disheveled, on edge, and in need of a drink after getting them pulled together, but once I take a look at them and review the pics, I always deem my efforts more than worth it!! :)

I present to you...

THE "WHATEVER"




THE GENIE




THE NINJA WARRIOR PRINCESS



SLEEPING BEAUTY PRINCESS GRACE




Our neighborhood is a happenin' place to be on Halloween and we had lots of fun with many friends. After a large gathering pre-trick or treating socializing, the daddies headed out with the kids, and I headed back to the house with a couple girlfriends for some wine and passing out of candy. A great evening was had by all!

Wordless Wednesday

Popping a hole in the bubble...

...alternately titled: The "F" Word.

Those that know our family know the tight bubble we are currently raising our young children in. I take pride in the bubble, because I believe it is the right place for my 4, 6, 8, and 10 year olds at this point in their lives.

My 5th grade 10 1/2 year old, is indeed though, beginning to show signs of curiosity in what exactly might be outside the designated bubble. As I begin to navigate the new waters of these pre-teen years, I am recognizing that it is okay to begin to pierce a small hole here and there in the bubble, under my guidance, of course.

So we come to movies...

We have always for the most part been very conservative with movies compared to families at large. Although within our chosen "bubble" we could be considered looser than others. My 10 yr old has never been allowed to see anything other than pre-approved PG movies.

However, last night her and I had the great opportunity to go on a date with our close friends...another mom and her 10 yr old daughter. E was not keen on seeing the newly released Cloudy With A Side of Meatballs, and upon perusing the movie offerings I happened upon Julie & Julia which happened to be rated PG-13.

I went to my go-to site for movie reviews from a christian perspective which you can peruse for yourself here . There I learned that the "13" rating was primarily for a selection of about 8 profanities which included 1 "F" word, 2 "S" words, and the remainder being the "A", "D", and "H" words.

A side note...in our family we are lean, mean, clean talking machines. Nary even a "geez" or "gosh" will be heard around here. My children DO know that bad words exist and why we don't use them, but in the younger ages, those "bad words" to them consist of "stupid", "shut up", and "gosh".

With E's advanced age, she is aware of what the "A", "D", and "H" words are, and thought she was "pretty sure" she had heard what the "S" word was, but in discussing whether we should see the movie and in showing her the review, she informed me that although she knew that there was a bad "F" word, she did not know what the word was.

Precious.

Isn't that so refreshing? That a 5th grade, 10 1/2 year old does not know what the "F" word is?

I love my bubble.

Anyway...

I talk to my friend and we decide we are going to go for it because the movie had a great review and we thought we could overlook the 7 or 8 instances of profanity, as we know our girls and know they know to never use that language and why.

So off we go.

It was indeed a great movie that I really recommend! (As a side note, I now am in love with Julia Child, am re-reminded what a uniquely gifted and talented actress Meryl Streep is, and that I WILL, nay, MUST make Julia's "Boof Bourgionione" at some point in my life...)

I have to tell you that the movie could have been total crap (also a word we try to discourage, however I find that it slips out of me way too much to have any hope that my children won't be desensitized to it in their future...) and E would have thought it was the greatest night of her life, simply because she was being allowed to see a PG-13 MOVIE (while sipping the most monstrous "small" $5 slushie drink which made me want to puke not only by looking at it, but also for paying for it!)

Anyways, about 2/3 through the movie she leans in to me and says, "mom, has the "f" word been said yet?" I said, "No, not that I have heard", and she says "Okay, I wasn't sure if I had missed it or not."

So now I was on my guard.

Sure enough, when the moment came, it was dramatic and unmissable. There it was. Out there. My 10 1/2 yr old had just heard the "F" word for the first time in her life.

As we left the theatre at the end of the movie, commenting on how good it was, how much we all enjoyed it, and how we all want to get Julia's cookbook and start cooking up a culinary storm, she leans into me and said "So that was the "F" word?"

I say, "Yes. And its really the most vulgar swear word. Its a terrible word and I hope you forget it."

Then she says "I don't know what I was expecting but it just wasn't what I was expecting."

I just started laughing at that. My precious, bubbled child who had no notion of what the "F" word might be, was unimpressed at the unveiling of the word. I just had to laugh. As we were walking out and talking to the girls about bad language and hearing their sweet thoughts on it and why they know not to use bad language, I mentioned E's comment about the unveiling moment of the "F" word.

My girlfriend and I got to chuckling when we tried to imagine what she thought the word might sound like (I am laughing out loud to myself right now). We started making up crazy F words that sounded more dramatic... "Flugalschnaderheimin!"..."Fraldindoedentanner!"..."Fortenmikelsnaden!"

We got to laughing so hard that I thought I might pee my pants, (which is a very hard thing for me to avoid on a good day).

It felt like a very grown up evening with our two growing up girls. It offered up good conversation and teachable moments, as well as great humor!

And although we popped a tiny whole in the well protected bubble for our girls last night, we still reveled in watching the girls, after bringing them to the "teenager" store of Aeropostle, buying them sweatshirts and watching them walk out wearing them, sweetly and innocently grab hold of each others hand and skip down the hallway of the mall.

:)