Bits and Pieces of Stuff

• Just bought Noah some more shoes.  Hand-me-downs from a PRESCHOOLER!  That is how little my boy is compared to most kids.  Poor thing.  Bless his heart that he hasn't noticed or isn't bothered by it.
• The Lord has encouraged me in a very specific, personal way.  I don't want to go into it, except to just say so.  That he is just in the details and he cares and he is true and all the other stuff just doesn't matter. Thank you, Lord.
• We, for the first time ever, actually got EVERYONE out of bed last night to take refuge in our downstairs bathroom at 3:00 a.m. this morning after our tornado alarm went off.   Learning, season by season here in TN, to fear the weather just like my husband warns me I should. :} A total of 5 tornadoes touched down in our area.  A couple just around the corners from us.  Close calls!!
• I finished 4 books this month. 
• We sold Noah's trundle bed via Craigslist to a family that is becoming foster parents.  LOVE that.
• I took a pregnancy test yesterday.  There - I said it.  And, no, of course I am not pregnant.  It is ridiculous that I had to do that, because Josh has had a vasectomy and all, but there it is.  Needed to rule it out once and for all because I am very late.  I won't even try to tell you how excited Josh got by the very far-fetched wondering if I might be pregnant.  Makes me wonder if we shouldn't have done that to begin with.... or if we should start asking the Lord if we can adopt sooner than later.  Just thinking out loud.  Pretend I didn't say any of this, ok? :}
• Consignment season is just around the corner and I hardly have anything left to sell because I have been a selling machine on GTP.
• I miss Anna's hair.  Turns out, I am not crazy about her short hair.  Oh well.
• Noah's speech is getting so much better.  He has really been receptive to the instruction he has been receiving about how to correctly pronounce his s's and l's.  
• Josh already filed our tax returns and we are excited about the credit we are getting back.  Turns out, we are poor enough that we pay very few taxes at all. 
• It is true.  There is no greater joy than knowing your children are walking with the Lord.
• I am reading a concordance with my bible reading this year and learning such cool stuff.  Will have to dedicate several posts to that soon.  Which reminds me, I never posted my favorite verses from last year when I read the chronological Bible in HCS version.  Must get on that!
• Nothing brings out the high-schooler in you like FB. 
• Josh is finally going to shave his beard.  He has a special date to the Daddy-Daughter Dance next weekend and she would like him clean shaven, please and thank you. :}

New Year's Newest Words

vulpine

triumverate

megalomaniac

uxorious

haberdashery

insensate

gomerel

verklempt

fyce

lombarg

gimcrack 

pettifogger

mollycoddled

jape

passel

gaumy

needsome

Weekend Pics

Just some fun-filled moments from this weekend:

I took Noah skating with some friends from my SAHM group. Noah was hard to help.  He wants to go so fast but doesn't do it right and also doesn't want to slow down enough to listen to his momma help him. :S  So that means he falls and cries a lot.  And gets impatient with his momma a lot.

In the end, the arcade section outshone the rink. Sigh.

We finally found Anna a new-to-her bike that is big enough without being too big and she LOVES it. She rode and rode and rode.  Her favorite is the bell. My favorite things are the flower-shaped pedals and the streamers. I can't believe both my babies are on 16 inch bikes now!

Josh and the kids did a round of tennis again.

This character logged some more miles on his scooter while Anna tried out her new wheels.  He also got registered for spring t-ball and hit some practice swing with his daddy while they were outside, too.

Pardon Our Mess

Pardon our mess,

 

but we are clearing out stuff,  

rearranging furniture,

(notice the bed swap)

and listing what we can 

to sell on Craigslist

(goodbye, first big boy bed)

and GTP.

We'll call this Pre-Spring Cleaning.

Anna's Big News

Anna has some news, y'all!

 

She is an o-fficial "Christen" now! :) 

It sort of snuck up on us, but it shouldn't have.  I guess I will blame it on the arbitrary number I have in my head of when a child is old enough to understand salvation.  Suffice to say, 4 (and Noah's 5) are much younger than I had in mind.  But the fact is that her sweetie-pie heart has been drawn to the Lord for awhile now. She frequently initiates conversations (and drawings) about Jesus on the cross, sin, death, forgiveness, and being a Christian. These conversations are usually neatly tied up with me or Josh saying that she will keep learning about these things and when she is old enough, she will make a decision about receiving forgiveness and choosing to follow Jesus and obey his Word.   So it shouldn't surprise me that this weekend, she very clearly let us know (again) that it was time.  The girl was ready to recognize and accept her Savior, simple as that. Here's how it went down, as told by Josh, who prayed with her about this decision. (Since I was gone with the girls when the occasion was marked, I begged Josh to type it out for me so I could save it here. Forever a blogger even when I am MIA!). 

In the playroom we were listening to the ipod and a song from my Granddaddy came on called, "Heaven, Can You Imagine".  Noah was talking to me about my Granddaddy in Heaven and Anna was playing with Legos.  Out of nowhere she said, "Daddy, I'm old enough to ask Jesus in my heart now".  Later, when Noah went up to his room for a rest, Anna and I ate lunch at the table and here is what happened:

Me: Anna, do you know who Jesus is?

Anna: Jesus is God.

Me: Yes, and Jesus is also God's son.  Do you know why Jesus came to earth?

Anna: He came to die on the cross for our salvation. (yes, she used the word salvation)

Me: Yes, and he died on the cross to pay for our sins.  Do you know what sin is?

Anna: When we disobey.

Me: Yes, when we disobey God that is called Sin and we all sin - you, me, Mommy, Noah, even old people, everyone sins.  But we can ask God to forgive us when we sin.  When you pray and ask God to come into your heart you are telling God that you have sinned, that you are sorry for your sin, and that you believe that Jesus died for those sins and want to obey Him forever.  Is this something that you want to do now?

Anna: Yes.

I moved my chair over to hers and held her hands.  I told her that I would pray with her and she would say what I say and if she believed it in her heart that Jesus would come into her heart forever.

Dear God, I know I have sinned.  Please forgive me of my sins.  Thank you, God, for letting  Jesus come and die on the cross for my sins.  Jesus, please come into my heart and help me to obey you.  Thank you for being my savior and King.  Amen.

After we ate some more, Anna wanted to know if our skin would be the same color when we get a new body in heaven. (We'd talked earlier in the playroom about getting a new body in Heaven)

When Anna called me on the phone that night, she was exuberant.  "I asked Jesus to be in my heart today! I am a Christen now!" she proudly announced. She was also already getting a little bossy with her new Christian status because she wanted me to know that Noah had not been making wise choices and that she didn't know a Christian could act like the devil.  Ha!  Walking down the streets of Nashville with my friends, I reminded Anna that just because we are saved doesn't mean we are perfect and that is why we have to work hard to listen to God and his words in the Bible to do better.  I reminded her that she is still a sinner, but now she is forgiven.  I told her that she will keep learning about these things, but for now I was just celebrating with the angels over her decision to follow Jesus.  That's when Anna giggled because she likes angels especially.  She has had long-standing plans to be one for Halloween this year anyway.  How appropriate. :}

As I said with Noah last February when he made this same decision, I will say again for my eager girl - Now is when the discipleship rubber will really hit the road. What a satisfying responsibility it is to guide our babies into the faith the Lord is faithfully calling them into.  Thank you, Lord!  Thank you for your faithfulness in our girl's life that has led up to this spiritual milestone.  I beg you to snatch up and guard her precious little heart more and more and to continue to grow it in your ways.  I beg your blessings on her (and her brother). Thank you, God!

Browns + Guitars

We have a new interest around here.  Nashville has officially invaded our home.  It started with a little girl's dreamy wish for a pink guitar. 

The day she brought it home, Josh sat right down after work strumming on it and figuring out a couple tunes.  It appeared he was hooked.  This was confirmed when he dug out an old banjo to jam along with the girl and her new quitar.

Josh continued to play on Anna's guitar until he finally admitted it was too small for his hands and he might could be interested in getting one his own size.  I happened to mention my amusement at his playing a little girl's guitar to a friend of mine when she offered up hers for Josh to borrow.  Thanks, Cindy!

And the rest has been history.  Josh plays every night.  He says his fingers really hurt now.  Shows me where he will have to develop calluses in order for it to not hurt.  He's even broken a string, bought replacement strings, and learned to fix it.  I can hear him upstairs practicing different notes again right now as I type.  

I kinda dig it.  The sound of the strums and notes is very soothing.  Looks like we'll have to buy him his very own big boy guitar after all.    So he and Noah don't have to keep sporting Anna's pink.

And - how cute is that little pink guitar strap?   We just got that today.  :)  I think next up will be a guitar stand.

Anna's New 'Do

Anna's been begging to have her hair cut and I have reeeeeeeeeally tried to pretend she wasn't asking.  But Josh took the task on himself today and took her to get it done.  We agreed shoulder length would be a gentle start to the haircut world. I stayed home, not wanting to look.

Before

After (5-6 inches shorter)

Josh has declined to comment on his baby girl's new look.  But I don't mind it that much.  I do miss the curls already, but I told Anna she looked a little more grown and she took to that descriptor with a knowing twinkle in her eye.  Because a new haircut is not allllll she is old enough for.  She has some news to share from this weekend :).

Stay tuned!

Sick Again :(

In December, he caught Fifth Disease.  Earlier this month, he contracted Pink Eye in both eyes.  This week, he's trying out something new that looks like this....

Another day, another doctor's visit. :S  Finger's crossed it's just another germ and not a new allergy to tiptoe around.  There's gonna be tears in this household if it's the dog.

A Delightful Day

This weekend, some good friends and I were given a precious 24 hours away from home together to celebrate a birthday.  Cindy, Kristin, Susie, and I met up yesterday under a sunny blue sky and perfectly cool weather and enjoyed lunch at the Chocolate Covered Strawberry.  Yum!  Then we beelined for Opry Mills for 3 hours of shopping.  I forgot how wonderful it can be to just wander and linger without rush or interruption.  It was glorious and the goodies I snagged for clearance prices were just the icing on the cake.  When we were done there, we headed into Nashville where Cindy's hubby booked us a free hotel room for the night.  We checked in and then promptly made our way to a delicious dinner at a mexican restaurant I have been wanting to try for awhile:  Chuy's. Yum again! Fun note, I finally tried my first ever margarita. It was pretty, fruity, and slushy. :) And of course, yummy.

After dinner, we strolled outside a bit and then headed back to the hotel for coffee and dessert and a dip in the pool.  After all this lovely leisure, we just hung out at the room and then slept in in the morning.  Before heading home we dined out again at a Nashville must-see restaurant:  Noshville.  Yum some more!

Thanks go to Cindy for allowing us all to enjoy her birthday with her.  It was such a refreshing break from normal routine.  And thanks to all the hubbies who held down their forts while mommies were away. :) 

Odd Firsts I Met Today

Today's odd highlights include the following:

I ate hog jowl in homemade sausage over homemade pasta.
I held an assault rifle. Like, a real-live assault rifle.
I emailed Bill O-Reilly.
I learned a great new word - pettifog.

As you were.

This Week

Josh has been sick as a dog and bouncing back and forth between the medicine cabinet, the bed, the office, and the doctor.  

I have been a busy bee with kid stuff and mom stuff and GTP stuff, as always.

And the weather is back in the 70s. Grrrrr!  I am having a hard time accepting this fact and the fact that I am having to run the AC in January again.

But, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, which is what the kids did today after the rain stopped.  Pulled out the shorts again, donned some boots and crocs, and hustled outside to watch the flood drive their Lego boats and to save worms from drowning in puddles in the street.

Excellent

So proud of my first baby all over again! We got to see his sweet and easy smile in the paper this week from that Eight Keys of Excellence award he got picked for from his class for the 2nd nine weeks. I think there is actually a color copy of this article out there and I am gonna cross my fingers I can get that version, too.

Here's the wall he got to put his handprint on.

And here's the spot where his sweet little mug will be posted all year as well.

In other fun school news, Noah stayed home sick again yesterday after only one day back at school this week.  The petri dish that is public school in the winter months sent him home with pink eye this time.  Lovely.  And crusty. :}

Noah's Lego Gallery

Noah's been busy honing his Lego skillz under his Daddy's eager tutelage and he asked me to photo blog their most recent creations.  A gallery, if you will - some of which Noah built all by himself.

Lord to the Rings Castle Wall

Catapult

Fireman Helicopter

Tie Fighter Bomber

Rebel Scout Speeder

Clone Trooper Ship (Noah solo build)

Geonosian Cannon

Ferris Wheel

Santa and his sleigh

Sebulba's Pod Racer

Orc Battle Wagon

H-Wing Fighter

Air Boat (Noah solo build), Cannon (Noah solo build), X-Wing Fighter

Millenium Falcon

At-At Walker

Snow Speeder

Some Star Wars Battle Ship I have to check again with Noah about

Fire Truck (Noah solo build) and Trailer

Feeling the Love

I got these loves notes from my babies over the past week.  

Translation of Anna's note that reads from bottom to top:  Mommy, I love you.  My heart is filled ..uu (lost in translation by even its sender). I love you, Anna

Chewie even got some love, too!

{Juh, you, we} spells Chewie.  Precious.