About our Aging Appliances

I pray over the appliances in our home these days because they are hobbling around and/or are in their senior years.  Truth be told, they should have already expired by now, some of them.  They have done their duties by us longer than we thought they would.  They are as follows, all of them, and I do not exaggerate:

• Fridge - door doesn't shut without help and it certainly doesn't seal when it does. Ice maker is broken.
• Dishwasher - moldy in bottom, stinky when running, has some war wounds (melted plastic), and has already been repaired twice by Josh.
• Washing Machine - been with me since I graduated college.  14.5 years now!
• Dryer - same old age as the washer.  Sounds really tired when I start it sometimes.
• Vacuum - special features we bought it for no longer function.  I am not sure it's even sucking anymore.  Which sucks.  Ha!
• Dust Buster - gets weaker and weaker suction with every week, even though I clean it out regularly. Holds charge less and less time every month.
• Microwave - some straaaaaange rattling going on sometimes.
• Lawn mower - doesn't start half the time and is just old.
• MY CAR - don't even get me started on how many repairs we have done in the past couple months, also it's over 100,000 miles, different quirky electrical stuff doesn't work sometimes.
• HVAC - both units we had to replace when we moved in 7 years ago.  So it annoys me not a little that already we are paying for repairs on them periodically.  Most recently we were told some part that allows the heat to come on is gonna go out ... sooner or later ... who can know?
• Computer - our Dell  has slowed with age and been less convenient  to work with as we have moved into the iPhone world.  It was running its fan alllllllll the time like the slightest function would consumes all its faculties.  So slow. Also old. So we actually got the appliance replacement party started early and replaced this bad boy this month with a refurbished mini Mac.  So far so good! 

Don't even get me started about the leaky and wobbly toilet in our master bath or how we desperately need to recarpet the stairs and entire upstairs.  I joke, but I'm not really joking, when I say I pray over these things like Jesus did when he multiplied the fish and the loaves. I pray for multiplication, too!  I pray he will multiply the months and/or years on all these things... or we're going to be in a world of financial hurt all at the same time at some point next year ... which is only a month away. :S  The garage door opener will probably go out tomorrow to punish me for my fretting and faithlessness.  Hold me, Lord!

Annotating Acts

I mean it.  I am moving so slowly in my private bible study.  

But who's racing, right?  Not me, clearly.

I started Romans recently, which meant it was time to double back on a free weekend (this weekend) and wrap up my journaling from Acts, which I began awhile back during a sermon study at church about who the Holy Spirit is and how He works.  

And so, here are some of the better note pages from my time in Acts.  Less illustrations for me in this book and more texty annotations.  Requires less planning.  

Which is what my life requires right now.  :}

 

 

 

Thankful for God's Word to me.  So thankful.  I cannot get over how my mind is renewed after spending time in it.  It is so amazing and so freeing.  I can be bogged down mentally and emotionally, obsessing and overthinking any number of things all day and trying so hard to get to the right place and preferable outcome and still feel so spent.  And then I just be still, with his words, almost face to face with the Lord, no?  And it's like everything falls back into their right priority.  My spirit is energized.  My mind is cleared.  And the eyes of my heart are narrowed again on the things that matter.  Like a great big spiritual exhale. So sweet.  So like how Acts 3:10 worded it ... "that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."

So thankful for God's Word.

This Thanksgiving

The good stuff has been had this Thanksgiving - we've been with family in FL, we are back home for the holidays, and turkey dinner has been enjoyed.  It's been a really great day! Great couple days actually with a handful more to enjoy before Josh goes back to work.

Yesterday, I took advantage of Josh being home and took a couple hour nap.  When I woke up, the sun was down, the tree had been pulled out, and Polar Express was queued up (a day early, but whatev).  Pole Ex is just about the only Thanksgiving tradition we have, besides turkey. :}

Speaking of turkeys, this one made Josh spend his first day off yesterday at the pediatrician with her.  Strep, yet again!  That didn't stop her from shaking her homemade tail feathers today for the holiday.  Last year she dressed up as an Indian.  This year, the turkey.  Love it!

 

I assigned myself the making of the deviled eggs (which I guess is also a Thanksgiving tradition, ha!) and also the mashed potatoes.  Pioneer Woman provided the recipe and it did not disappoint.  They were perfect! My particular favorite part of this recipe was not having to use a mixer.  Good old hand-powered mashing for the win!

Yum!

Dig in, folks ... but NOT until I take a pic to mark the occasion, of course. :)

Since this holiday was ALSO a mini-birthday for our girl, we celebrated by having her join us at the table for the first time and by giving Sweet Thing her first sweet thing to taste - applesauce.  She did pretty well!  Grinned, mushed her tongue all around, even swallowed a little. 

This Thanksgiving, we enjoyed really mild weather at 70 degrees which allowed us to keep the doors open all day.  Besides our Thanksgiving feast, Noah and Anna played outside with the neighbors, I watched football and scrolled Facebook and read a new book by my favorite author, and Josh oversaw all these things before retiring to Noah's room to work on their At-At Walker robot project. :} Later on, we headed out to The Dancing Lights of Christmas to check a big line item off our holiday list now while we had the free time and the energy ... visit Santa! 

Noah noticed right away that this Santa looked different, yet still he will not figure it out, bless him.  Anna walked right up and read her list of things she would like for Christmas.

Noah, ever the mellow child, asked only for a light saber and said Santa could just surprise him after that.  Santa, trying to be funny, offered to bring Noah a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. That's when Anna had to set the Big Guy straight about her brother's peanut allergy.  Ha!  C'mon, get it right, Nic!

Poor Lasa's Santa pic got cut from our purchase because she WOULD NOT look up ... or anywhere even remotely picture worthy.  It was just not working.  Also, the silly photogs were useless, but don't get me started.  So, in lieu of Lasa on Santa's lap, I snapped this shot of her beneath the tree.  With Santa on her shirt.  That counts, right?

We are settling in for leftovers, football, and more down time tonight.  

It's definitely been a full and good day.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Lasa Love at 4 Months

Our sweet, chunky bundle of love turns 4 months old today. On Thanksgiving! 

We are so thankful to have her in our home this holiday season. She grows more and more delightful every month.  We adore her and are praying for her momma to heal quickly so she can spend these precious days with her girl herself as soon as possible!

Lasa's Latest ...

• Blows raspberries all the live long day!
• Has begun to reach out to grab toys on purpose now!
• Chews on her hands whenever she's not blowing bubbles!
• Does this nasal hum sound on repeat when she is getting tired. 
• Joined us at the table in a high chair for the first time today!
• Tried her first food flavor today ... applesauce. It was fun. She grinned.
• Weighs 15 lbs. - which is 69th %ile! This is amazing for a preemie.
• Is 24 inches long - which is 31%ile.
• Wears size 2 diapers, but is ready to move into 3s before Christmas probably.
• Wears 6 mos clothes right now ... which is impressive since she was a preemie!
• Loves to hold our fingers to be pulled to standing.
• She has begun laughing hysterically at a number of things... pulling to standing, growly kisses on her neck and ears, having her arms raised above her head, being wiggled from her arms, when we wrestle her arms in and out of clothes.
• She has a bald spot in back now. I hoped it might never come.  It did.
• She still stops traffic wherever we go. People love her!
• Spent her first hour in the nursery at our church's Thanksgiving Dinner this weekend.
• Drinks 5 ounces at a time still.  Usually 3 hours apart.
• Sleeps about 12 hours at night, with an earrrrrrrrly morning feeding usually around 4ish.
• Naps 3-4 times during the day, with a really lonnnng nap in the afternoon.
• Has tried a few naps in her crib and actually slept.  Slowly transitioning to all crib sleeps.
• For now, she still sleeps predominately in her swing to remain upright.
• Will meet Santa tonight for the first time!

Happy 4 mos. BabyLove! 

Noah Reports on TN History

Noah and Anna wondered aloud the other day about why Tennessee is called the Volunteer State.  And it just so happened around that time that Noah had a mini-report to complete for co-op about any TN history event of his choosing.  Once we read up about our state's nickname, we knew this topic would fit that bill.  Noah got to work reading,  paraphrasing, reordering, correcting, and finally writing up his finished draft.  It was a good first report to do and I was glad to discover that I wasn't doing all the work - just guiding him through all the editing steps.

 

Before calling it done, we got a video of him reading his report.  It took a number of tries after all the interruptions we have here in this house, but that's all well and good.  He needed the practice and was glad for it after presenting to his class.  He said others stumbled over their readings and he felt proud of how well he presented his ... because of all the practice I made him do.  Mommy for the win!!

Later that week, we swapped out field trip options we had for the day and visited a local monument honoring the very thing Noah reported on ... the stunning amount of TN Volunteers during the Mexican War! 

 

On the way there..

 

 My particular favorite detail from what Noah (and I) learned is the reason TN'ns were so eager to help.  It has to do with Texas history actually and The Alamo ... two topics that are near and dear to my heart, but those are blogposts/reports for another day.  Ha!

Kidding.  I won't do that to you.

After this stop, we hit up the library.  Then CFA.  Then swung by to get Noah's hair cut, where he told the stylist that he loves homeschooling because we get to go so many places. :}  Homeschooling for the win!

Dose of Random Just to Catch Up

Getting ready for Turkey Day at co-op. 

Hanging with buds on an abbreviated school day.  True story, Anna and the little blonde guy, Jonah, have decided, with their mommas' gentle guidance, to just be friends for now and wait til they're 21 to get married.  She hasn't broken the news to her other buddy, Cohen, yet, but has promised to write it to him in a letter. Young love.

Just a snippet of a moment I took the other day.  One small homeschool moment.  Play break for Noah.  Anna workin' away just inches away.  Love these days.

Um, heaven help me because we just brought one of these bad boys back into our home.

And one of these baby play apparatuses as well.  BOTH given to us by a dear friend who never ceases to make me catch my breath with her kindness toward us. So thankful for God's providence.

How glorious is this sky in front of our house just after some windy and wet weather last week?!

 

Lasa-love continues to be an easy-going cherub of a girl. Clearly.

True story.

I snuck away from the house the other night to take the kids to see The Peanuts Movie.  And as it turned out, we squeezed in play and dinner and then snuck away with another handful of good friends as well before all was said and done.  Kiddos loved the movie.  I loved sitting in a dark room, left to my thoughts, or lack thereof, without interruption.

Anna was inspired by poor Charlie Brown's kite plight.  She spent the next afternoon trying to fly hers.

It ended up as sad a sight as Charlie Brown's kite endeavors in the movie.  Bless it.

I am in love with these socks my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas.   They just make me happy.

We had to take our car in for yet ANOTHER repair (the third in a month?) today. I was sick, SICK I tell you, about spending more money on it.  And sure enough, because Josh works with the wife of the head of the dealership's service department, it ended up being free.  Turned out it wasn't as serious as we feared either, which helps.  But not having to pay for the labor helped even more.  Thankful!

Florida Recap: Lasa!

So as you can see, we did the FL thing.  Were gone for 8 days.  Lasagirl would tell you we were gone 10 days, though, counting day-early drop off and day-after pick up.  That's because, obviously, she did not go with us on the road, out of state, away from TN.  I suppose we could have asked her mom for permission to take her with us, but really that, and traveling with a baby, would have been a lot more hassle than a really long road trip with multiple stops already is.  So, for the first time, we took advantage of some respite care and left Lasa with another Jonah's Journey family who was so excited to have her.  The Tuckers thorougly enjoyed their time with her and were sad to give her back.  They took great care of her, managed as well as they could when she was off her normal routine, and were kind enough to send us pics almost every day to appease our missing her and our curiosity about how she was doing.  She did just great and ate up the attention of the Tuckers and their three boys.

Thankful for this support system and for the fellowship we have within the JJ family! Also, thankful for respite and thankful to get our girl back home after all was said and done.

Florida Recap: Legoland!

And now, the festivities a la Lego...

Best shot of the whole trip! 

This delighted my people ... throwback to the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disney, which was a particular fave a couple years ago.

We rode it more than once ... or twice.  :}

 

Shameless indulgence at a silly game booth.  $10 a kid plus a generous booth worker afforded Anna a cheap purple giraffe and a giant minion for Noah. :}

It was {really} neat to let the kids ride coasters by themselves! 
Big kids rock.

This view made me laugh all day long.

All of this.  Legos. And a million other impressive builds in the mini-city area.

Trading minifigs for the millionth time...

Did I mention how stinking hot it was in FL while we were there?  A nice wet ride was just what we needed.  Some of us more than others. Can you say "drowned rat"?

You can see Anna there in the middle behind the lady in pink.  She was fearless about the coasters.  Hands up almost every ride.

Noah gave it a try with his hands up for once, too.  I really think this was the ONLY time he did this. This particular coaster was my favorite coaster in the park. 

When you pass the man the camera...

Seriously.  How amazing is this tree?!?!?

In line for a thrill ... Anna was juuuuuuust barely tall enough to ride.

Mine and Josh's favorite ride ... in the Friends of Heartlake City area, no less! This ride was a POWERFUL rush.  Just did not expect that in the Lego Friends part of the park.  Ha!

View of hotel from our last ride - Island in the Sky.

Headed out for the last time...

I would almost venture to say to that all the minifig trading with employees all over the park was Noah's favorite thing both days.  Here's all the guys he and Anna traded up for.

Most expensive souvenir we've ever bought.  If I catch Josh in the right mood, he {might} let the kids actually take it apart.  Ya know, as Legos were intended to be used.  Ha!!  This coaster was called The Dragon and was both kids' favorite ride. We went to it first both days and were able to ride repeatedly without even getting off.

Great trip!  Perfect fit!  Thanks, Legoland!