My Buddy

Ryan and I had some alone time tonight while the other 3 were at a school function.This boy cracks me up. He kept getting up and to see his picture on the camera and then would sit back down to pose for another picture. He cracks HIMSELF up a lot.

 So far, he is doing great with the tree. Very curious, but surprisingly gentle.

This is picture is so him, always moving!

I laid down on the floor and let him climb/jump all over me. I will pay for this tomorrow (well, my neck will) but it was worth all the laughs. He thought it was awesome!

I have a huge praise to share. As of Thanksgiving, for no reason that we can explain, Ryan has been eating normal meals. He is actually eating what we eat. I was quite sure I was ruining him, doing everything they say "not" to do for picky eaters. He is just so small for his age. I didn't go to crazy lengths at meal times to cater to his whims, but he was given additional items that I knew were guarantees (cheese, yogurt, fruit, crackers). For whatever reason, he has just begun eating a majority of what the rest of us eat at meal times. I can't believe it! It is such a relief. I have physically felt the stress leave my body. Thank you Lord! Pray it continues.

Aroma

If you need an instant room freshener or perhaps you'd like your house to smell like a coffee shop for the holidays, just let a huge tub of coffee fall out of the freezer onto the floor while you are putting away groceries. Delightful! Your kitchen and broom will never smell better.

Illuminated

Friday night, we watched our downtown come to light at the illumination.

Dad and mom joined us, now that it's their city too :)

Saturday after naps we got our tree.
You'll notice the amazing tree farm in the background :)

I am not sure which is more surprising, that we bought the second tree we looked at or that all 5 of us are looking at the camera.

We decorated the tree today during Ryan's nap. 

He tends to break almost everything he gets his hands on. 

I am fully prepared to be replacing a lot of ornaments at after Christmas sales.

 oh my, Owen looks so old.

 we got this on our honeymoon. seems like a lifetime ago.

 Owen didn't quite get it straight, so Mason had to try ;)

So Fun!

 

This is one of the necklace's EJ's mom helped me make over Thanksgiving.

In all her cleverness, she realized that our first initials spells AMORE= love in Italian (thanks Shannon- I only had 3 yrs of Spanish, ugh!)

Isn't that so fun? 

She was going to make me a necklace with them and give it to me as a gift, but she couldn't resist showing me the beads, which meant I got to decide what it would look like. 

I LOVE how it turned out. This blue color is my favorite color and I tend to wear it a lot. Perfect!

Shut In

If you know me at all or another "artist" for that matter, this will not come as a surprise. I am a very visual learner and remember-er (made that word up).
I find my recipes based on the type of paper I remember they are on. I was able to tell my father-in -law (during bed rest months) exactly where certain items could be found in the grocery store b/c I have the mental image in my head. I can not follow a long story just by listening. I need to read it!

A friend of mine has generously told me time and again, that my graphic designs help her organize her thoughts, give her a clearer perspective on things.
And I totally get what she means.

Our house is a complete disaster!!! My head has not been where I want it to be. My time has been spent selfishly spent on my lists. I am distracted and distant. And I hate it! It's only the 1st of December for crying out loud. But then more than half of my small group's prayer requests this week, all asking to keep a quiet heart and mind during this crazy season. So I am not alone.

This week at Wellspring we studied the story of Noah and the Ark. A story I thought I knew everything about :) and discovered I knew very little. God has continued to blow our minds with his scriptures.

This is the image I walked away with and that is bringing me comfort as I rummage around in my messy house trying desperately to love each individual God has blessed me with and find quiet time with Him.

 

No, I am fairly certain there was not a Christmas wreath on Noah's ark, but this is my ark (the image in my head). 

From Genesis 6: 5-8

"The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD."

Genesis 7:11-16

"In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in."

Genesis 7:18

"The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters." 

Genesis 8:1

"But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided." 

In the ark with God, God shut out the world's sin from Noah and his family. Yes, he was still a sinner, but God set him apart for His greater plan. It is a picture of God's judgement and grace working hand in hand. In Christ, I am shut out of the world's sin and judgement of God.

So as the world around me scurries about with the Christmas crazies. I am holding tight to this image. I want to be "shut in" with Christ, "floating" on top. I do not have to do this perfectly because His grace is beyond sufficient, but I do it b/c I want to be near Him. I want to be "shut in" with Him.

At least, I can be almost certain that the disaster that is my house, doesn't smell like the ark must have :) Although as the boys get older, that could be up for debate :0