Snow Day #3

Well we have finally seen snow in Missouri this winter! The girls have been very excited. I think most of it will melt today and Saturday we might be bike riding, since it's going to 52 by then!

We have been home from school for 3 days now...there is a layer of ice under the snow. We've had a lot of fun just hanging out. Here are a few pictures from some of the things the girls have been doing. We had a lot of fun outside, making snow angels and sledding...our new home has a great hill for sledding! I didn't want to stop, it was so much fun. The girls have been making crafts, playing their music a bit too loud (the floor below me is currently vibrating...I thought I wasn't suppose to have to deal with loud music until their teen years! :)), building forts, coloring their hair, and watching a few of their favorite tv shows. I've been enjoying staying in my pjs til noon, drinking too much hot cocoa, reading a book, figuring my way around facebook, chatting on the phone with friends, catching up on emails and today I think I'm going to pull out my scrapbook stuff!

Their first fort was in the bathtub, but they decided they didn't have enough room, so then they built this elaborate fort in the basement. They set up all the tables and everything.

Here they are making a fan and gold! They love their craft cabinet and come up with some very creative projects!

Surreal

I don't always have these feelings, but tonight has been a bit surreal... might I even dare say that the God of the universe is actively involved in our lives... bringing us to a place of community and friendships once again. Might I say that that thought is a bit overwhelming, comforting and fascinating all at the same time?!

So the church we've began attending (about 25 minutes away) is running around 3500 people on a Sunday, 4 services...needless to say it takes some effort to connect and it's also easy to be anonymous. Well tonight we attended "grouplink" at our church...a place to connect with others. I really wanted to connect with others from Republic, the small town we're living in...but when several hundred show up "to connect", it's a bit overwhelming. And yet, it wasn't overwhelming for God. We quickly hooked up with 1 couple from Republic (they live at the opposite end of the walking trail in our neighborhood), then another couple from Republic (who by the way use to be a teacher at Republic, before she started staying home and the teachers were just talking about her yesterday at lunch 'cuz she'd stopped by the school and they live 2-3 streets down from us.) Then we met another couple from Republic and get this...he had just called the lab this morning to find a "science speaker" and he had connected with Mike this morning in that endeavor. Two other couples also connected up with us as well...one lives just outside of Republic and she is a counselor at a Children's Home and another lady joined from Republic whose husband is currently serving in Iraq. So I don't know what the future looks like and if any or all of these wonderful people will become some of our closest friends, but I do know that the God of the universe is intimately involved in our lives...and that brings tears of hope to my eyes.

Letting Go

So today I once again have to "let go". Morgan is going to her 1st sleepover tonight at her best friend's house! She is very excited and I'm sure she'll have a great time. It's just another one of those bittersweet moments of being a mom!

Facebook

Well I finally joined facebook! I still think I'll like blogging a bit better, but every time I turn around someone else I know is on facebook, so I thought I'd check it out and try it! So if you're on facebook...look me up!

A Minute of Margin

I've wanted to read this book called "Margin" by Richard Swenson for awhile now. Our library had his book "A Minute of Margin", which is 180 short readings and I just got it last night. The concept is this...even a page in a book requires margins...but often our lives our so full, they have no margins in them, but our lives need margins. I haven't read very far in the book, but it's VERY good. There are so many thought provoking ideas...here's a couple:

He was talking about how once upon a time and there were no clocks and he asks..."What was it like to have no notion of a second or a minute or even an hour? To never be late or early? To not even know what late or early is?" He then talks about how the clock broke up the day and the light bulb broke up the night and he says "The clock and the light...they gave us time, then they stole it away."

He talks about how we are a nation on the move and in a hurry...fast food, rush hour, FedEx, Sprint phone calls, Quicken, Slimfast...and he goes on to ask "Is there a speed limit to life...a pace beyond which the brain, body and the spirit begin to suffer? What happens when we exceed this limit?...Speed. Hurry. We pay a price for the pace at which we live."

Life at a slower pace...what does that look like?

Meet Noah

I woke up this morning thinking, OK Noah, you only have 24 hours until I have to leave...today HAS to be your birthday! Well I woke up yesterday saying 48 hrs, and the day before saying only 3 more days...and the day before that...well, you get the picture. Speaking of pictures, here are a few of my newest nephew, Noah Benjamin, 7 lbs 15 oz, 20 in long...he arrived in the world this afternoon. Both Noah and Suzie are doing fine. And we're making sure Tori has a fun night at her house tonight before we head back to Missouri tomorrow.