catching up

wow... it's been 2 months since the last time i posted to this! craziness! but today has been an incredible day of catching up on all sorts of things. i got 9 people signed up for the heart walk team, abbie had her eyes checked and glasses ordered, we set up a fundraising night for the heart walk at mcalister's, we got our grocery shopping done, we bought the paper and envelopes for emma's birthday invitations, we got treats from andy's, we picked up emma's birth certificate (only a year later!), we stopped by the bank and put all our important stuff in the safe deposit box, we rented a movie and watched it with the kiddos, and we put 2 loads of laundry away... not to mention i'm updating my blog! whew! so here i am at the end of the day thinking back on all the little successes of the day and it made me wonder why is it that i measure my success by a checklist? what it is about checking things off a list that makes me feel that sense of accomplishment? it made me realize how thankful i am that isn't how God measures us. he doesn't check things off a list of what we do and don't do... he just loves us. i'm so thankful for that! and yet, it challenges me to keep his priorities as my priority. am i really focused on what matters? hmmm.

we caught you kissin'

abagail and jay have a very strong relationship... a love/hate relationship!! one minute they can't live with one another and the very next minute they can't live without one another. so we go between 'kickfighting' (a horrible, torture-filled, game they've made up that momma absolutly hates) and playing 'wedding' (they even alternate who plays the bride too... a secret we don't widely share! lol)

anyway, tonight we were in the car just going for a drive to give everyone a change of scenery. we were at a stop light and i leaned over to kiss jimmie. we heard giggles from the back seat, so he kept kissing me. then a sweet little sing-songy voice says 'oooo, we caught you kissin!!!'. we turned around and they were both grinning from ear to ear with a twinkle in their eyes. jay turned, grabbed abbie by the neck, and pulled her to him. with one hand on the back of her head and the other so softly on her cheek he kissed her right by the ear and whispered, 'i love you, ab!' oh, how sweet it is to see them love each other!

jesus... moses... it's all the same, right?

so tonight we read the christmas story to the kids again and afterward thought we'd ask a couple extra questions to be sure they were really understanding the story. jimmie asked, "how do you think mary felt when she found out she was going to have baby jesus?" jay jumped up, "i know, daddy! i know!" he went on to tell us how there were 3 bad men who were killing all the baby boys and so mary didn't want her baby boy to get hurt. so she put him in a basket called a manger and then put him in the river until she could get to him again. and then when he grew up he died on the cross for us!" he was so proud of himself!!

traditions

i love traditions. i love the stability, the certainty, the warmth, the memories, the strength of traditions... and i'm passing that love of tradition on to my little ones. abbie has so many memories of past christmas events and she wants to do them all! and then jay and kate get right in the thick of it as they all start pleading for all the christmastime fun ~ they want cocoa and popcorn with christmas movies, they want handmade gingerbread houses, they want ornaments to specially selected to represent their year, they want to roll out christmas cookies, they want to hear the christmas story over and over, they want to drive to see all the twinkling lights, they want to sing carols 'til they lose their little voices, they just want to enjoy every moment and soak it all in. and i don't blame them a bit! it's all soooo much fun!

this year was the first that they went shopping for one another... we decided to let them open their presents from one another tonight and they were each so excited! it was so precious to see them proudly present the presents they had selected, bought, wrapped (with 200x the amount of tape that was really needed!), and kept secret for so long. they were properly rewarded after each present with huge hugs, kisses, and love, love, love!

we are blessed beyond measure... what a wonderful season this is! we have so much to celebrate.

lazy days of summer... err, winter

what a fun, lazy day this was! we all slept in. then we ate cereal, clementines, and pie for breakfast. then we went back to sleep (well, half of us!). then we had coloring time. we made the plans for our christmas break, set the family rules for the vacation (we decided everyone earns a bead each time they make another person giggle!!), and everyone got excited and ready for all the extra time together. then we did naps again (the other half of us). then we played with all the puzzles at once... such confusing fun! then we did dinner and more naps (just a couple of us). then we went shopping for our teams christmas parties coming up next week ~ fun surprises! we didn't clean up, we wore pony tails, and we got lots of beauty sleep ~ who could ask for anything more???

505 blessings

505, you ask? yes!! jimmie and i met for lunch today and on the way he got a call from work... he won the $500 shopping spree contest they've been running the last 3 weeks. so on monday he gets to go with several other winners to wal-mart and they have 30 minutes to spend $500 each! that shouldn't be hard to do, right??? wrong! :) we instantly went into plan-mode... do we do the practical thing and buy new socks, undies, tees, diapers, groceries, etc? or do we splurge and get bigger bikes and helmets for the kiddos since they outgrew theirs this year? or do we get that new tv we've been wanting since ours shows everyones faces in the color orange? or do we do something meaningful like new coats and sweaters for Victory Mission. OR!!! OH WAIT!!! just thougtht of this one ~ we could buy a ton on stuff for the new 'one heart' ministry at church!! oh, that would be sooo much fun! hmmm... the possibilities are endless ~ and i love the anticipation of the weekend while we decide.

oh, and the other 5 blessings??? that's easy!! those are named abagail, jay, katie, emma, and jimmie... the greatest blessings of my day by far!

midnight visitor

i had a little visitor tonight... i was feverishly working on the layout for this blog and in the silence of the night i heard a the pitter patter of little toes on the floor. in came my baby kate, sweet little angel. her hair was in her face, her bear dangling by her side, her eyes barely open. all she wanted??? to snuggle with her momma. yes, the blog will wait - kisses are a much more pressing matter!