Happy Birthday Eliza!

Lovely Eliza, this picture says it all:  sweet, funny, friendly, silly.  What would we do without you!  You are such a special gift!  love, Mom and Dad

Happy Birthday Marina!

Lovely Marina, with your arrival at 11:07 p.m. 15 years ago today, everything changed....forever.  And we are so thankful. You, our witty, intellectual girl, are precious to us.....and even more so to your Savior.  You are BELOVED in so many ways.  We love you.  Mom and Dad

Is there such a thing as a 1 1/2 birthday?

I'm grieving.  Our baby is 1 1/2 today.  Where does the time ago?  Wait a minute.  I know exactly where the time goes.  It goes to picking up the path of destruction that "Mr. Hurricane" seems to leave behind where ever he goes.  I've really never seen anything like it - the mess that is.  That's saying a lot from a mom of 5.  You all warned me that boys are different.  I knew you were right......but there's no way I could have imagined the shenanigans of my precious, outlet-licking, table-climing prince.  And there's also no way I could have imagined how MUCH we would all love him.  ;-)

And so that also explains the neglect of this poor blog.  I've got messes to pick up and people to love....lots of both!  I am so blessed!

Unique - A Happy Birthday Story

Thirteen years nine months ago, a young wife and mother lived comfortably in her contented life with her one sweet little princess when she learned that another cherub was on the way.  She loved her happy life with her precious daughter.  That daughter was her greatest joy.  She couldn't imagine being able to love another child as much.

So she began to pray.

She prayed that God would make the babe on the way so unique that it would be easy to love her.  And He did.

She prayed that this child would be very much her own person.  And, oh boy, did He ever!

She prayed that God would fill her heart to overflowing with love for, now, two daughters. And He did.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21

This morning,  at the same time that little baby was being born 13 years ago, two hot air balloons drifted over our house just as I stepped outside.........and I thought "of course"!  Of course this special day would begin in such a unique, interesting and exciting way.  That's just what you are sweet Olivia.  

Happy Birthday dear Olivia!

(This post is being published one day late since we were all watching Olivia's relay team win first place at a swim championship on her birthday.  Very fitting, huh?)

17 Years!

17 years

5 kids

6 puppies

2 dogs

1 cat

3 guinea pigs

4+ hamsters

2 hermit crabs

an assortment of Beta fish
too many surgeries

1 house fire

and more prayers than I can even count

LATER.......

..........the adventure keeps getting better and better.  I wouldn't want to be on this ride with anyone but YOU!  

A Little Update on our Little Man

Hey Everyone! This is Olivia with an update on Brayden.


Our little Buggy has grown so fast and now is a little boy! He's a year old now, and as handsome as ever. (have you ever seen such a cute little face?)

For his birthday he had spaghetti and a cupcake for the first time.......and.....well.......he must've enjoyed them. 

Have you ever tried stuffing the whole thing in your mouth?

Let's just say, his whole meal was very memorable.

Then he almost got buried in his sea of presents.

And had tons of fun playing with them.....

We LOVE our little Brayden!!!

(I realize that his expression is a little weird in this picture......but it's still cute. How can it not be?)

Happy Birthday Brayden!!

How did it come to be, dear sweet little prince, that we all blinked and our tiny little

graduate-to-the-6-pound-club .................

became a little boy?!

Maybe one day you'll begin to understand how you've blessed and changed us all.

We love you.

I've decided I'll let his sisters post about his special day. The day wore me out emotionally! ;-)

A Special Day

Today is a special day around here. For that reason, there will be a special post to follow later on today. I've been anticipating this day (and this post) for some time. I knew it would be bittersweet. I've experienced a day like this 4 other times in my life. Yet, I knew this one would feel a little different, a little more intense. This time, I'm older and not so prone to taking things/people in my life for granted. This time, there are more people around to mark the day and to be affected by it. This time, I recognize I may never mark an event like this again. So I'm left wondering. Did Mary weep the day her precious Jesus turned one?

Happy, Happy Birthday Eliza!

Sweet Eliza, I polled Daddy and your sisters this morning about words that describe you. Here's what they came up with. I couldn't agree more. You are a delight to have as a daughter, student, kitchen helper, cuddler, and more!

We love you!

Mom

Entertaining,

Spunky,

Competitive,

Silly,

Eager,

Willing,

Crazy,

Ambitious,

Curious,

Cheerful

New Page on our blog....

This is Juliette.

I wanted you to know about the new page we have put on our blog. You can get to it by clicking "Duct Tape Designers" in the right side bar.

Our Miracle Girl

Almost 11 1/2 years ago, we learned that the sweet little baby girl I was carrying at the time was not healthy. That news was the beginning of a very emotional and trying journey through the rest of that pregnancy. It was a pregnancy filled with ultrasounds, consultations, tears, and much much prayers as we wondered if we should prepare for a birth or a funeral. Friends cried and prayed and waited with us. Through it all, our faithful God stayed very close to us and kept His mighty hand on that little girl.

Today she is eleven.

A handful of ultrasounds, x-rays, CT Scans and one very scary lung surgery later, she continues to bless us daily with laughter and creativity.

We love you Juliette!

Irresistible....

I know every mother thinks her baby truly is the cutest to ever walk the earth but really........couldn't you just eat him up?!

Thoughts on a New Year

I thought I would be thrilled to see 2009 (with all it's trials and tribulations) go. But the fact is, in those weak moments, God met us mightily and in the end, He was glorified in all of that mess. It feels a bit melancholy to be facing a wide open new year with all of it's unknowns. (God, really, I'd be just fine with a terribly boring and uneventful year - thank you very much.) I'll be posting my reading list soon which will likely give some clues as to what I'm being prodded to work on this year. In the meantime, I'm prayerfully pondering this blog's place in our family. Happy New Year to all of you and your families.

**After posting this entry earlier today, I perused my Google Reader and found this. (You may remember my friend Colleen - really a "cyber-aquaintance" who reached out to me during my bedrest - who lost sweet Bryce in September.) The things she writes often resonate in my own heart. Today is no different. Lots of wisdom there.

How do I respond?

Eliza: "Mama, Mrs. Pierson says that the best Christmas present ever was a horse but I think the best Christmas present would be twins."

Me: "Oh REALLY?!"

She really might want to start praying for that horse! ;)

Unbelievable!

Suffice it to say, it has been a most amusing snowy weekend!

Our First (not quite) Feature Film

There was time for tinkering today. Please bear with us as we delight in our first edited and published family movie. Everyone is a few inches taller now (or a few inches wider!) but it makes us smile anyway. And yes, the song is appropriately called "Wipe Out". :-)

Thankful Hearts

Recently I was transferring all of our 2009 family photos from one computer to another. As they imported onto the new computer they flashed quickly across the screen, one by one.....sort of a slide show of our lives for the past 11 months. Each image that passed was a sobering reminder of the depths of our suffering and the heights of our joy but mostly of the Lord's abiding faithfulness through it all. This year, Thanksgiving is especially precious. Although the Lord shows his faithfulness to us every year, the trials of this particular year have made His blessings to us all the more sweet. Many of YOU have shared the ups and downs of this year with us. We are so thankful for you for being instruments of God's faithfulness to us.

I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. 4 For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me.
Is. 45: 3-4

Happy Birthday Marina!

Fourteen years ago, God brought forth a cherished little baby girl with a song in her heart. With each passing year, we have been so privileged to hear new verses of that song emerge as that precious baby has become a lovely young lady.

Happy birthday, Marina.

We all love you very much.

"O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things!
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!"
Psalm 98: 1, 4, 5

Unintentional Internet Fast - Lessons from the Unconnected Life

We experienced, what I at first considered, a most unfortunate internet fast last week. My laptop was unable to connect for 6 days during which time our family computer also was "attacked" by what appears to be either a virus or malware. Upon realizing that our predicament wasn't going to be fixed quickly, I moved my laptop out of the kitchen, where it normally lives, turned off our most disagreeable family desktop and lamented how much I'll miss my daily email and blog reads. And then I began to notice some really interesting things.

• The laundry I started on Wednesday morning got dried, folded and put away.....on WEDNESDAY!
• Thursday, when we worked halfway through lunchtime without realizing it, I hadn't one time looked at my watch wondering if it was time to check my email yet.
• A pile of books (really three piles but stacked into one gigantic mountain) that had waited - I kid you not - MONTHS to be moved onto shelves are now neatly resting on shelves.
• We played games.
• We read aloud.
• On Friday night, when August was able to finally get my laptop connected again.......I felt sad.
  

I don't think this unintentional experiment means we need to pull the plug completely but it does mean that for me, cyberspace is a bit like the chip bowl at a Christmas party. If I park myself too close to the bowl, I'll have downed half of it before even coming up for air. With a little space between the bowl and myself, moderation is so much easier to exercise. The use of my time is much the same way. Without even realizing it, I can get lured into my computer screen and not even notice the minutes ticking away.......or the people (both little and big) needing my attention until a half hour later.

The beginning of Advent, the season which not only prepares our hearts to welcome an infant Savior but also heralds the beginning of a new Church year, is quickly approaching. We were challenged this morning at church to ask ourselves how we would live the next year if we knew we were going to die November 15, 2010. Hmmmm..... The little and big people around here need me - all of me. I need them. And we all need so much more of Jesus. I think the laptop will live tucked away in a corner for a while.

How We Spent Our Weekend

Introducing Maizy

Would somebody please tell me how much cuteness can possibly exist under one roof 'cause we've got an awful lot of it around here! ;-)