Month: March 2009

1)We were NOT LOST last night on our way to Children’s Hospital at Egleston to visit a family with a sick baby.  We have always wanted to roam the North Druid Hills area.  Soooo, when we finally pulled into the parking deck (an hour after we left home) and the car stopped, Josh said, “OK, we are here.”  Molly said, “Are you SURE we are here, Daddy???”  

2)Molly wanted to play ball with Josh.  She said, “Let’s play back and forth and back and forth. You can be back, and I will be forth.”

3)About six months ago we lost our remote control.  We searched this place up and down, but could not find it.  My dad has even visited during this time, and he LOVES  a remote, so he helped look for it, but still no remote.  I even caved and bought a cheap universal remote in the check-out line at Wal-mart…I didn’t know how many more times I could go on the hunt when Josh would say, “Have we checked _______?”  Or when he would say, “We have GOT  to get more strict with these kids.”  It seemed that all of our bad parenting led to them misplacing the remote.  ANYWAY, one Saturday afternoon, Josh had a thought that maybe the remote was in the brown couch.  We had looked and felt in the sides of the couch, but we hadn’t taken it apart…it was just a remote…but this was a desperate moment, and look at what he found!!!

 

Well, we had a fun, fun time in Augusta.  Marcy, my sister (my older sister, but she doesn’t like when we say OLDER sister), sent me some pictures since I left my camera here….HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?  I mean, I only had to pack for four people, remember a birthday present, a dvd player and movies (little did I know I could have only brought the Bee Movie since Ruby watched it four or five times in two days!!), snacks, and wipes, and on and on and on.  So, after the initial shock of wondering how in the world I would blog about such a great time without pictures, we just decided I should forget about it and get some pictures from Marcy.  I hope she can send me a few as attachments so that I can post them on here for all three of you to see!   SO MORE ON AUGUSTA TO COME, I PROMISE, MAMA.

OK, but I did have to tell this funny story from this morning.  After church we came home to eat lunch.  This is a HUGE accomplishment for us.  You see, each week on our way home Molly says, “Daddy, can we please go to Mexican?  I want an enchilada.”  Josh gives in to Molly’s request every time.  We made it past the Mexican restaurant, and several more for that matter, and we ate a very simple lunch.  Molly was kissing Mack while he sat in his booster seat at the table.  He started pushing her away and grunting at her.  I said, “Mack, you better kiss her back.”  Molly took that statement very literally and turned around and lifted up her shirt, “Yeah, Mack, kiss my back!”  Hilarious.

A sweet moment happened in Augusta with Ruby.  We were walking up to the house, and I asked her to hold my hand.  She did.  Then, I said, “Do you know why I want to hold your hand?…because I love you!”  She looked up at me so sweetly and said, “I knew you were gonna say that.”  I am so glad she saw that coming.  I do love that little booger.  She was super sweet this weekend to all of her cousins.  

Hope everyone is having a nice Sunday.  I went and got a manicure and pedicure on this Lord’s Day…probably not the best thing to do, but it made me feel better about having to skip our Sunday afternoon nap to go to Wal-Mart with the rest of Woodstock!  Glad it is behind me…my toes and fingers are cute, the pantry is stocked, but I am really tired and hoping I can make it through the service tonight.  (Is that bad?)

This morning I got up before the rest of the family, which I am learning to really love.  I am embracing my time alone and undistracted, even if it can only happen in the wee hours of the morning!  Amazing how things change.  I just wish I had agreed with God on this time a long time ago.  So, this morning I was reading my Beth Moore study on John.  It has been a blessing and today was no different.  Today was actually over the top for me.  She started out with two questions:  What role does good health play in the condition of your soul and your relationship with God? Or the other way around–how does your soul’s fitness affect you physically?   And she asked, What could Satan do, though, if we become overly fretful about our physical health and the other stresses of age avoidance?  What’s the balance here?        These were great questions for me.  Beth Moore wrote some of her thoughts, and I thought some of my own.  This subject has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.  Where is my worth?  Am I thin enough?  Why did I have to be so “hippy”?  (and I am not talking about peace, love and rocking roll here…not that anyone who knows me wondered that)  I wish my hair was straight.  Why is my nose so big?  And then after having kids I found myself in a whole other frame of thought….Will I ever have a flat stomach again?  (I think I can answer that,ummm, no.)  Will I ever fit back in my size ** pants?  (and here’s where I get really honest)  Is Josh as attracted to me now that my body is different?  Does he miss the flat stomach?  (for all practical purposes, I think I can answer NO for him in regards to missing my flat stomach…haha)  Josh really is a PHENOMENAL husband and none of these crazy thoughts and questions have anything to do with him. He treats me so great…he is a sweet husband and an answer to prayer.  Sooooo, these thoughts that could (at certain times of the month) take over my mind were not healthy and needed to be dealt with.  I have read books on the issue, joined a gym, joined Weight Watchers in the past….all of which were great things at the time and each had wonderful benefits to my life.  I don’t know how I would have lost 30 pounds without counting points.  I enjoyed getting more toned at the gym, and the book is one I have referred back to many times.  But, for some reason, this morning’s time with the Lord was SO ENLIGHTENING….mainly because of this verse:

DEAR FRIEND, I PRAY THAT YOU MAY PROSPER IN EVERY WAY AND BE IN GOOD HEALTH, JUST AS YOUR SOUL PROSPERS.

 3 John 2

Wow.  That is no simple prayer.  I wondered, “Would I be so glad someone is praying this for me?  Is my soul prospering so greatly that I would want my health and myself to prosper in just the same measure?”  Woa.  

The Lord has been working on this area of my life for a while, but I would definitely say that through different circumstances and conversations, the issue has been more intense over the last two months or so.  And I truly believe He was using all of this “stuff” to get me ready for THIS MORNING.  He may have known what was coming (what am I saying?  Ofcourse He knew!!!), and maybe He was even excited that I was going to read this verse today and hear from Him so clearly.  Exercising my soul in this daily time in His Word, time meditating on Scripture, time in prayer for the many needs is VITAL TO MY HEALTH.  MY SOUL’S HEALTH, which is most important anyway.  I mean, what are we left with at the end of this time on earth?  I am very aware that we should take care of our bodies—eat good foods, exercise, drink water, laugh, get enough sleep—but, oh, we can miss it, can’t we?  We can find ourselves taking care of our bodies while our soul wastes away and dries up.  BUT I would venture to say that if we are taking care of our soul that our view of our bodies, our God-created bodies, will be healthy, and we will be very well aware of where our worth comes from and what is most important in this life.  

Here is the prayer Beth Moore started the prayer time with:

Lord, You have taught us in Your Word not to consider ourselves as wise but to fear You and turn away from evil, for this will be healing for our bodies and strengthening for our bones (Prov 3:8).  You have also said that paying attention to Your Word and teaching, keeping them within our heart, will be life to those of us who find them and health to our whole body (Prov 4:20-22).  I receive this today as both a warning and a blessing, wanting to honor You in every part of my life, knowing that You have created me to be whole and healthy and to prosper.

And this week I was already starting to memorize I Peter 3:3-4  “Your adornment must not be  merely external-braiding the hair and wearing gold jewelry or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.”

The Lord is working in my life, and I am so very thankful!  I know a lot of truths and lessons just have to be learned the hard way or through circumstances, but OH how I hope and pray that I can help our girls and big Mack to know the importance of taking care of their soul and spending time in The Word of God…..to know in Whom their worth is found and maybe they won’t have to wait until they are in their thirties to “get it.”

Katherine spent the night last Thursday, and I forgot to post these pictures.  Mack also got a $5 pair of camo “crocs” at Payless that weekend.  I really haven’t had the time to write creatively, and I am feeling bored with the blog.  I need to try and find time to make it more fun, but really…we all know that is probably not going to be happening any time soon….

 

Oh and this is funny…I almost forgot, but Ruby saw the pjs that Katherine brought for her to wear and said, “Oh, Katherine, you knew I loved these.  Thank you so much for bringing them!!!!”  Katherine said, “Yeah, I knew you would want those.  My mom said you would like the Kimpossible ones, but I knew you wanted those.”   (C’mon, Mary…don’t you KNOW that Ruby loves these pajamas best???”)

Don’t know if I have mentioned this before or not, and I don’t want to forget, but Mack calls Ruby “Roo-Roo” and it is precious!  I took him to the doctor today because  he just wasn’t acting right  and his eye was getting red.  Ends up, he has an ear infection and is on some antibiotic…poor guy…glad his mom FINALLY decided to take him to the doctor to see what the issue was!  

Molly-Moo went in and got her hair cut today, and I think it turned out soooo cute.  She used to say she wanted long hair, then she said she wanted short hair and let me chop on it….mistake.  I am not a hairstylist, so I don’t know why I think I can cut my children’s hair!  Ridiculous.  Anyway, we went today to fix what I did.  Molly sat perfectly still and didn’t say a word the whole time.  She has great hair and it turned out adorable.

 

There is so much going on around here and so much that could be written, but I just don’t seem to have time to write about it all.  I will start with the fact that Molly had a terrific time with Josh down in Albany.  She loved seeing Gran and PawPaw and GG and Uncle Tony.  She played with the hospital gloves, she “cleaned” the hospital room she sat in bed with Gran, she ate at the hospital, and from what Josh said, she skipped everywhere she went.  She was a happy girl with all the attention on her.  I am so thankful that they were safe and had a good time.  I am also so thankful that Gran is doing so well and gets to go home today.  

Next big thing is that we got some snow yesterday.  I was totally not impressed.  IT IS MARCH.  I think the time for snow would have been, oh I don’t know….Christmas Day, some time in January or maybe even Valentine’s Day.  But, March 1st?  C’mon now.  It is time for Spring.  Keep your snow until next winter, ‘kay?

We “braved the storm” and went to church last night so that we could see Ruby sing on the big stage!  She told me several times that she was afraid of getting on the big stage and being up so high.  I tried to comfort her and not make a big deal out of it.  She ended up doing GREAT, and she really liked it up there with all her friends and with such a big audience watching her sing.

Here are some pictures from our big snow day in March AND Ruby singing.  Katherine is her best little friend, in the blue dress…her mom, Mary, picked our seats and did a GREAT JOB.  We had the perfect seats to see our cuties singing together.  (That is…until someone in the vicinity began passing gas….it was near hilarious, and if we weren’t so close I could have fell out of my chair in laughter, but I decided to be a grown-up about the situation….did I just type that in my blog?  Oh dear…)

 

 

 

We were so proud of Ruby.  Molly wanted to know when she gets to be on the big stage.  She wasn’t satisfied with the answer, but next year she and Ruby will be up there together.  So sweet!  They are growing up.  These really are fun times.