Missed the Wedding

Well apparently I've missed Sarah's wedding, 'cuz she is getting ready for her honeymoon! Yep, I found her in Morgan's room after school today...Morgan had an entire salon set up and when I asked what they were doing, they replied...getting Sarah ready for her honeymoon! Guess she's going to Africa with Eric (I've never met an Eric!) to see zebras! She looked beautiful by the way! (So at dinner Mike was trying to get the girls to promise they'd buy the houses across the street when they were older...he said, "you'll always have free babysitting if you do that!".) Wow, seems like just last week she lost her first tooth! Time flies!

18th Valentine's Day

This is the 18th Valentine's day Mike and I have spent together, but only the 2nd time we've actually gone away just the two of us.

When we got there, they had "upgraded" our room to a condo...we had a living room, full kitchen and bedroom... and we thought we were just getting a regular hotel room! We felt very spoiled (the rate on the door said it was $409 a night!)... that's not even close to what we paid! It was SO nice. We loved staying at Branson Landing and walking everywhere for the weekend. We unplugged from tv, computers and the phone (except for when the girls and my parents called to wish me a happy birthday! and we watched Fireproof), it was nice! For me, it was intimate on an emotional level, lots of fun (lots of laughter) and extremely replenishing! It was a great birthday! Oh yah, and I can't neglect to mention that the only reason I was able to relax so much, was because I knew my girls were having a the best time with Darian...as a parent, how great it is to go away and not have to worry about your kids for even one moment! That is a gift! (They went to gymnastics, coldstone, krispy kremes, made purses, baked and decorated cakes, went to Chuck E Cheese, and I can't even remember what else!)

I LOVE Birthdays!

It is so much fun to celebrate birthdays! Here's a few pictures from Sarah's 6th birthday.

Darian, who is like the BIGGEST blessing to our family, made Sarah's birthday cake. (She is also watching the girls this weekend, so Mike and I can get away for a couple of nights...oh yah!)

Sarah had 2 friends come home from school with her today and they went swimming at the pool with us. And just now as I was typing this up, Sarah lost her very 1st tooth! How very exciting!

I love watching her smile all day!!! She adds so much joy, giggles and fun to our lives!

My daughter's joy

There's just something magical about experiencing your child's joy. Tonight Sarah got her ears pierced (for her 6th birthday) -- she has been smiling all evening and has been (and still is) so very excited! She chose the purple ones!

And then we decided to do something out of the ordinary and actually go out this evening...so we went to Chuck E. Cheese -- oh my goodness -- you should have heard the squeals and excitement...it almost makes me want to go to Chuck E. Cheese every Friday night! I just love spending time together as a family...they are a lot of fun to be with! Chances are they will not remember this evening 20 years from now, and I might not either, but life isn't always about remembering every event (although I secretly wish I could remember it all, bottle it up and pour it out whenever I want!), rather life is about enjoying the journey, enjoying the moment we're in right now...and thru those moments you build relationships that make life so, so sweet!

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.