tree choppin'

I wanted to get these posted before Christmas has come and gone ...

We chopped down our lovely Hill Country Christmas tree in Pipe Creek again this year. The kids really got into it this time. Trip helped pick one of the biggest trees. He carried the measuring stick and "helped" with the cutting. I think their favorite part was eating candy canes and going on the hay ride.


 

(check out the crack. so cute.)

(winner for best dad award!)

 

 

(candy canes. the reward.)

Worth Reading ...

From the Desiring God blog today...

God's Promise for the Disappointed (Click to read entire article)

...What does God mean when he promises we will lack no good thing?

Since God is my all-satisfying Treasure then what makes something good is whether it brings me more of God.

Oh Christmas Tree

Last year, in an effort to preserve the beautiful hand painted glass ornaments that my mother in law gives me each year, we started decorating our tree with only unbreakable things. I will save my "pretty" ornaments for a day when my children are not guaranteed to break them.

[Side note: Anna Kate already broke an ornament that was on the tree in our public library]

So, we borrowed an idea from a good friend of mine, and decided to put our favorite pictures from the past year on the tree. It has become somewhat of a tradition, if you can count two years as that. It really is fun to look at how much has changed in the past year and reflect on the fun memories and blessings in our lives.



I also like to add the silver bells that Cupcake has given J and I as an anniversary present since our first Christmas together. They are so beautiful seem to reflect the white lights and the pictures. The berries and twigs are straight from the front yard - how's that for being thrifty? And the beautiful grass angel is also a gift from my sweet mother in law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 months

Wills

Height: 24.25 inches

Weight: 13 lbs. 9 oz.

(75-90th percentile for both)

Wills has continued as my biggest child, but to me he still seems so tiny! He has the sweetest personality, even after a rough couple of weeks being sick.

Looks Like: Trip. But I see a lot of myself in him. Especially in his eyes and nose.

Development: He smiles all of the time, and he is my most talkative child at this age. We have hit some set backs as far as sleeping through the night because he has been so congested, but prior to being sick he was sleeping a 6 hour stretch followed by a 4 hour stretch, so I can't complain.

Loves: Wills loves, loves, loves being held. It doesn't matter who does the holding. He is a very cuddly baby. He also loves his big brother. He is most content when Trip is there to comfort him. Recently he has started to like sucking on his hand, a habit I am trying very hard to break!

Hates: Like his big sister, he throws the biggest fits when he is tired. But that is really the only thing that makes him fuss.

(Below is Wills at 2 months, followed by Trip and Anna Kate at the same age in the same little outfit.)

 

Trip

Height: 22 inches (50th percentile) / Weight 12 lbs. 12 oz. (75th percentile)

Anna Kate

Height: 23 inches (75th percentile) / Weight: 12 lbs. 3 oz. (50-75th percentile)

Dandy Life

A story I don't want to forget.

It was 4 o'clock and it had been a really long day. I can't even remember the details of why the day had been long. It was only going to get longer because J had city council that night. I still had dinner to make, mouths to feed, kids to wash, chores to do, and bed time. Wills was fussy, Anna Kate wanted to be held, and Trip wanted attention. 

I was incapable of meeting all of their needs, which is a really sad feeling as a mom trying to rely on my own strength to raise my kids. I put Wills in the Bjorn and took Anna Kate and Trip outside to play before it got too dark, hoping that just being outside would help. 

It didn't. Anna Kate was tired and so she was clumsy. She fell and hurt herself. She screamed. Wills screamed in response. I bent down on my knees to brush Anna Kate off. 

I think God wanted me on my knees. So, I prayed. I asked that God help me to rest on His strength alone to parent. Because I was tired. I was weak and I was not doing a great job. I learn this lesson almost daily it seems. That without the Holy Spirit working through me, I am incapable of the work the Lord has given me. The important work of being a mom.

Then, I stood up and saw my sweet boy running to me with this dandelion.

"This is for you Mama. I love you."

What a perfect way for my Heavenly Father to remind me of His own love for me.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Matthew 6:25-34

If you give Spider-Man a Web ...

If you give Trip string to use as a Spider-Man web, he will wrap it around several pieces of furniture in the living room.

After he has made his web, Spider-Man has to swing from it. 

When he swings from his web, it will pull over a piece of furniture, sending a large chalkboard crashing into two large ceramic pieces.

If Spider-Man knocks over something breakable, Spider-Man's mom will have to drop everything she's doing to clean it up.

She will forget that she was about to let the dog out to go to the bathroom.

When she forgets to let the dog out to go to the bathroom, the dog will pee all over the house.

After the dog has an accident in the house, he realizes that he is hungry and thirsty. So, he will jump on to the table to grab a bite to eat.

When the dog jumps on the table to eat, he will knock over and shatter a glass of red wine.

When the dog knocks over a glass of red wine ...

Well, what else can a tired mom do but pour a new one.

(Inspired by the children's book "If you give a moose a muffin" ... Don't you think my story would make a great children's book?!)