Boogers

Caleb: Mommy, I have two big boogers in my nose.

Me: Okay, go get a kleenex and blow them out.

Caleb: No, I think I need you to pick them out!

And that, folks, is where I draw the line. I believe that picking the boogers of a four-year-old is beyond the scope of my job description. Can I get an Amen?

4 year old faces

I found some more pictures of my handsome boy being awesome. Love this kid to itty bitty pieces!!

Oh Yeah Azaleas

The azaleas came in late this year. I'm going to blame it on the SNOW we had in MARCH... not normal. I'm so glad we have seasoned azalea bushes in our yard. We have never had to trim, fertilize or pay any attention whatsoever to these guys. We have killed some and trimmed some in other places in the yard, but this line seems to love the simple life and they bloomed great for us this year! I'm so glad I snapped pictures of them when I did, because those darn things only last a week or so! Maybe two. Boo.

Ridiculous

The lack of pictures on my blog is ridiculous lately!! So sorry. I don't really even HAVE any to post since Easter, is that sad? I did find a few cool ones from a trip to Dallas from back in February that I never posted. I know that's way back there, but they will have to do! We went for the day to celebrate our niece's birthday at the American Girl store. Oh. My. Word. That store is..... whoa. I didn't get any pictures of it, but just imagine a two (or three?) story department store filled with dolls, their clothes, their accessories, and all the other paraphernalia and gear. I'm telling you, it's got to be a billion-dollar business, that store. There is a bistro where you can eat brunch with your doll, and a hair salon where you can have her hair did. It's breath-taking. Really. Janell decided to spend a few hours there for her birthday, so we joined them for a stroll through the megalopolis of dolls and then went to their hotel to have some cupcakes from Sprinkles. Yum!



At the hotel were two of the most amazing Royal swans. They were the pets of the hotel, and the employees treat them as honored guests. They were so neat! The kids were enjoying watching them swim and wag their tailfeathers and then a super nice employee brought a basket of Romaine lettuce so the kids could give the birds a snack. Carly and Caleb just laughed and laughed! It was superfuntimes!



Fighting over the food like an old married couple




Look at Carly's face... tickled to death!

Stars

Maybe I’ve been the problem.  Maybe I’m the one to blame.  But even
when I blame myself, the outcome feels the same.  I’ve been thinking
maybe I’ve been partly cloudy.  Maybe I’m the chance of rain.
And maybe I’m overcast.  But when I look at the stars, I see someone
else.  When I look at the stars, I feel like myself.

Sounds poetic, eh?  That's because it is.  It's a song by Switchfoot that
grabbed me tonight as I drove home from a wonderful dinner party
with my Mops table.  I've been grumpy the last week for lots of
reasons, none of them any good.  I realized it was happening,
so I concentrated hard on conversing with God throughout my
days and making sure to dismiss negative thoughts as evil and
unhelpful.  I concentrated on the Psalms, which is where I'm at in my
one-year read-through of the Bible.  How awesome is God's timing
to put David's songs of praise and worship to the Lord in this time
in my life when I need it.  It's been a small change of seasons for
me, and it's been great to "come out of it" feeling refreshed and
renewed.  

Tonight these song lyrics went straight through my heart with
conviction of my poor attitude this last week.  It's a little
perspective thing to realize that, yes, my life might be giving me a run
for it lately, but if I would just look up and see God's creation, I might
change my perspective a bit  and see someone else.  I can realize
that the God of the Universe who made the vast heavens and
more than any human eye could ever see, also made me, cares about
me, and  loves me despite how disappointing I must be to Him. 
However, I also know that when He looks at me, tiny little
oh-so-miserable me, He sees perfection, because He sees Jesus' blood
covering my imperfections.  It's a great feeling.

That might not be what Jonathan Foreman was thinking about when
he wrote the song, but it's what I thought about tonight.

Mommy's face book

"Mommy, what is a face book?"

"What?"

"How did you lose your face book?"

"Oh, you mean when I was talking about when I lost my Facebook last year?"

"Yeah, where did it go? How are you going to find it?"

"It got lost on the computer, so I made another one."

"Oh......... ok. I'm sorry you lost your face book."

Caleb overheard me talking about when my Facebook account disappeared around this time last year (my own stupidity - don't ever try to change your email login to an address that is already being used by another person to log in the Facebook. In this case, it was mine and Greg's shared email account. It caused my account to be deleted) He was very concerned about my lost book. The difference between generations!

Psalm 22 - it's me today

Psalm 22

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Doe of the Dawn.”

¹ My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
² Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief.

³ Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴ Our ancestors trusted in you,
and you rescued them.
⁵ They cried out to you and were saved.
They trusted in you and were never disgraced.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man.
I am scorned and despised by all!
⁷ Everyone who sees me mocks me.
They sneer and shake their heads, saying,
⁸ “Is this the one who relies on the Lord?
Then let the Lord save him!
If the Lord loves him so much,
let the Lord rescue him!”

⁹ Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb
and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.
¹⁰ I was thrust into your arms at my birth.
You have been my God from the moment I was born.

¹¹ Do not stay so far from me,
for trouble is near,
and no one else can help me.
¹² My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls;
fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in!
¹³ Like lions they open their jaws against me,
roaring and tearing into their prey.
¹⁴ My life is poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax,
melting within me.
¹⁵ My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.
¹⁶ My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs;
an evil gang closes in on me.
They have pierced my hands and feet.
¹⁷ I can count all my bones.
My enemies stare at me and gloat.
¹⁸ They divide my garments among themselves
and throw dice^a]">[a] for my clothing.

¹⁹ O Lord, do not stay far away!
You are my strength; come quickly to my aid!
²⁰ Save me from the sword;
spare my precious life from these dogs.
²¹ Snatch me from the lion’s jaws
and from the horns of these wild oxen.

²² I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.^b]">[b]
I will praise you among your assembled people.
²³ Praise the Lord, all you who fear him!
Honor him, all you descendants of Jacob!
Show him reverence, all you descendants of Israel!
²⁴ For he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy.
He has not turned his back on them,
but has listened to their cries for help.

²⁵ I will praise you in the great assembly.
I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship you.
²⁶ The poor will eat and be satisfied.
All who seek the Lord will praise him.
Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.
²⁷ The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him.
All the families of the nations will bow down before him.
²⁸ For royal power belongs to the Lord.
He rules all the nations.

²⁹ Let the rich of the earth feast and worship.
Bow before him, all who are mortal,
all whose lives will end as dust.
³⁰ Our children will also serve him.
Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord.
³¹ His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born.
They will hear about everything he has done

Sheepy Seasons

I feel like my life is going through a change in seasons lately. It's hard to explain, harder still to even understand myself. There are days when I feel like everything is going right and I'm on the path I'm called to, and then there are days, like today, where I feel like doors are slamming in my face and I've gotten stuck in a dead end. Let me assure you, I know my place in my home and family, and am secure in that. But I also know I feel called to do certain things, and the opportunities are not there -- or I'm not seeing them. That's a more likely story. So I'm just wandering around in confusion, waiting for the flashlight to flicker on and shine brightly on the obvious path.



But our God is nothing if not patient, and I laugh a little at the thought of how ridiculous I must look to Him.. a little bit like a sheep that just walks and walks until it hits a wall and then turns and walks some more until it runs into something else. Never sensing the way, only following fruitless, worn out trails. I imagine the Holy Spirit giving me a nudge here, only for me to shrug my shoulder and go the opposite way. And that's exactly why God sent Jesus, to be my shepherd and guide me, sometimes with just a whispered word, and sometimes with a whack on the head with his staff. I'm trying to hear and distinguish the whispers these days, but maybe what I need is a nice hard whack on the head?



While I wait for God to reveal his plan for me, I'll keep living my everyday life with my two exceptionally awesome children, and a husband who loves me and works hard to provide for us. Pray I don't fall into bitterness from the closing doors and God will show me how great He is by what he's already planning for me. I already know I am loved by God... all I have to do is smell the sweet cheeks of my babies and look at my surroundings. Lord, keep that at the front of my mind.

This song has been rolling around in my head, it is two verses from Psalm 18 that we used to sing in children's choir, sung in a two-part round. Anyone remember this?

³I will call upon the LORD,
who is worthy to be praised:
so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
I will call upon the LORD

⁴⁶The LORD liveth;
and blessed be my rock;
and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

I can't say exactly how this lines up with my post, but I don't believe in coincidences, so I'll figure it out eventually.


Photo Credit to Google Images