She's four...

and she asked me how to spell "intact" the other day. How does a four-year old girl know about the word intact? More importantly, why does she need to write it down?

I have no answers for you. That's my Ava.

Ava was writing random letters on some lined paper, as she loves to do. Sometimes she asks me how to spell family members' names, or how to write a letter to Grandma. The word 'intact' came out of nowhere and she has yet to tell me why she needs to spell it.

Funny girl.

I love the age of four so much.

Mostly because Teagan is forever four in my heart and mind.

I was head-over-heels for her always, but especially loved her personality, quirks and charm at age 4 when she was killed. Teagan was my little shadow around the house and she entertained me all day long. She sang and danced and talked non-stop and in between those things she giggled and laughed. She played so well with Brock, and showered Wyndham with love for a short time. I never dreamed I'd have her taken from me at such a young, glorious, full-of-life & potential- age.

But it happened.

Now, if you've lost a loved one, you know you "never get over it". Death and loss becomes a part of you. The tragic, sudden way we lost Teagan, in addition to her age, impacted me deeply. Forever.

It hit me a couple of times this week.

Once, yesterday, as I left a dr. appointment. I was sitting at a stoplight waiting to make a turn when suddenly an ambulance came up alongside me with the lights and sirens blaring. I got a sick feeling in my stomach and my throat tightened instantly.

I couldn't help but think of the person/people waiting at the other end for emergency help.

I've been "on the other end" a few too many times in my life and the sounds of those sirens just hits me so differently now. I never take my health for granted, in particular, at moments like that- just knowing someone is in crisis makes me thankful for what I have.

I had another moment a couple of days ago when I put Crew down for his nap. I was planning to get a few things done around the house as long as he slept when Ava called to me from another room asking me to come and play Barbies with her.

It hit me hard.

I couldn't help but think, at that moment, of all the times I had longed to have my 4-year old just call for me to come join her in playing Barbies while her little brother slept. I had prayed and begged God more than once to give me that back.

As I sat down on the floor with Ava and picked up one of Teagan's old Barbies, I realized that I was living an answer to my own prayer. I held back the tears and thanked God for giving me this moment. Yes, it took seven years to get answered, but God honored my request. It didn't necessarily come as quickly as I would have liked, and it certainly didn't 'look' the way I had pictured it in my head, but still, here I was playing Barbies with my 4-year old as her little brother slept peacefully in the next room.

It was reason for me to give thanks to God yet again. For seeing me through so much, and giving me some of the simpliest desires of my heart. Not that they come without a lot of suffering and patience and endurance, because there has been a lot of questioning and heartache through the years. There have been high costs and times when I've wondered if God could hear me or even care, but I was quietly reminded in ordinary ways this week, that God is at work. He does care. He does hear our prayers. He doesn't always work in the ways we would hope and pray, but He IS always faithful in all things, if we put our trust fully in Him.

It's these types of life-lessons I am so grateful for in life...and I never want to forget.

*For you scrap-readers, we have a new Fashionista challenge blog called "The Haute Spot". The first challenge was posted today. You can take the challenge and maybe win a prize and also see more pages/inspiration there. It will be fun. I promise...I already made my page. You can see that here... another moment I never want to forget.

Happy Blog-aversary...

Wow! Today marks Nitty.Gritty.'s third anniversary.

I can hardly believe that it's been that long. So enjoy something 'sweet' on me- even if it's just that fun picture of all that gorgeous candy above which came from here... yum!

In addition, here are a couple of pictures of my life from when I started this blog in 2005. Our family looked a little bit different and had all sorts of happiness, fun and challenges. Much like we do today, only we have lived more, grown in many ways, and I've shared it all with thousands of you who have joined me in the journey via this blog.

I never intended for that to happen. This blog was something I was doing mostly for myself and my family. Once I joined the scrapbook community, it grew a bit...and from there many of you have linked me up with your own blogs and shared my story/life with your own circle of family and friends. I have read hundreds of emails and comments over the past 3 years. I have responded to many of them- cried from some and laughed with others. I have been pushed to be more thoughtful and I've been pushed to be more bold. I have been blessed to share our heartaches and so many of you have reached out to my family in those times. Thank you.

I have been blessed to share our joys and all the ordinary, routine in-between times too. Thank you for encouraging me, inspiring me, sharing your perspectives and stories too, that have helped make a difference in our lives as a result.

I love that this blog has been a place for opinions to be shared, for learning to take place, and for prayer requests to be brought forward. I love that God has "shown up" here over and over and that it has nothing to do with me- but He has graciously made Himself known through words and stories and pictures.

I am humbled that after 3 years I still have readers [besides Chip,my Mom, sisters and Rachael =) ] and not only that, but that there is still joy afforded me through blogging. I have been a writer/journaler at heart since I was a kid, and this blog has been such a treat for me to watch it all unfold and to have pictures to go with the thoughts/stories along the way.

So thanks to each of you who have left comments, sent emails, prayed, been outspoken, and for those who quietly read and yet turn around and for whatever reason, after reading, you love more, Hope more, feel challenged or comforted, question your faith, laugh at the little things, let things go, hold tighter, want more, need less, feel more free, want to surrender, or simply know what a good buttercream tastes like because of this blog.

Happy 3 years, to this Nitty.Gritty. blog.

I hope to be around for many more posts. If you must know...today is post #351.

Computers & creativity~

I would never have guessed that I would grow up and spend as much time on a computer as I do. I always liked video games but never touched a computer really until I was in college. Now I find I can browse craft/creative websites, shop homemade gifts on Etsy.com (that cute wellies stationary is available at Little Brown Pen, in case you're wondering and it's on my birthday/Christmas list too. {wink}) and even scrap a photo while feeding a baby or browning meat for dinner.

I was able to work on our Christmas cards by using the Scrapblog site ( www.scrapblog.com ) and I would recommend it to any of you who are into designing your own cards too. Their site is free and they have some great templates to save you time, or a wide variety of backgrounds and embellishments if you'd rather create your own look. I now feel like I have a headstart on the holiday season this year. Next up... create my Christmas playlist and get my blog in the mood too. =)

The votes are in...

A member of SIStv posted a link to the following article found here- taken from Relevant Magazine. I couldn't have said it better myself and am duplicating it here for you to read.

America Chooses Obama
By Roxanne Wieman

Well, here we are on the other side. A watershed moment. An historic election. And we, the American people, have made our choice.
Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States, and the nation’s first black president. And in elections across the country, Democrats won their seats in the Senate. When Obama takes office in January, he will do so with a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress.

“The American people have spoken, and spoken clearly,” McCain told his supporters in Arizona after the results came in.
But what about you?
Those of you who took our RELEVANT poll yesterday favored McCain: 47 percent of you voted for the Arizona Senator and 33 percent of you for Obama. So, are you disappointed? Will you hang your heads today? Do you fear for our nation’s future? I’m not so sure.
So many of us—members of the widely contested “young evangelical voters”—were divided about this election. Not just as a group, but even in our own hearts. I know which candidate I chose, but it wasn’t an easy decision. And, to be honest, I didn’t really care who won. I agreed with both. I disagreed with both.

What I’m wondering now is where do we go from here?
While the electoral vote and popular vote strongly favored Obama, our country is still largely divided. This was a hard-fought, personal and passionate race. There are wounds on both sides. Can Obama and the Democratic congress heal those wounds? Can we help?

Yes and yes.
Obama ran as a unifier. He condemned our party divisions and championed cooperation across party lines. Many of the Democrats who won seats in the Senate ran with similar platforms. If Obama and the Congress majority maintain that position and “reach across the aisle” in the years to come, that will certainly go a long way in healing our wounds and unifying our country. Karl Rove has already expressed his own wish that the Republicans would do the same, "I hope we will support [Obama] when we agree with him, persuade him when we think his mind is open, and oppose him when we think he is wrong.

"Whether unity happens in Washington or not, the question still returns to us: what can we do to help? As Francis Schaeffer so famously put it, “How shall we then live?” Now that the election is over and Obama and the Democrats have so clearly won, how shall we then live? I believe that we, the young Christian voters, can uniquely answer this question. I believe, in fact, that this is the very question we are so primed to answer. Because this election and its profound life issues has galvanized us to true action.
Yes, we voted. But it’s more than that. Through this election, we’ve become aware of the major social issues of our day. And now we want to do something about them. We recognize an election will not change everything. We do not rest our hopes for change on a political party or candidate. We vote, we hope, but we don’t stop there. Tomorrow and the next day and the next and in January when Obama takes office, we get up and we continue our sojourn to follow Jesus. We live our votes for life, for justice, for peace, for equality.

We comfort our friend who tells us she’s considering abortion. Then we gently tell her why we believe life in the womb is precious. We help her find alternative options … and we stick by her side all through the pregnancy and birth and after. She is not a statistic or a faceless evil to us.

We love beyond racial, gender and sexual lines. We reject stereotypes. We embrace individuals. We work for reconciliation.

We do not talk about “that side of town,” we live there and work there and mentor there. We are a part of educational reform, and ESL, and rehabilitation.

We recycle. We reduce our imprint. We consciously make our purchases, recognizing the global implications. We strive to “live simply that others may simply live” (Ghandi).

We personally pray for our soldiers in Iraq, for the citizens of Iraq, for our leaders who are making tough decisions that affect millions of lives. We really do pray, and we believe our prayers matter.

We continue to work hard in the jobs God has given us, saving our money and stewarding our resources. We tithe. We donate. We volunteer.

We continually challenge each other to deepen our understanding of whole life ethics and Jesus’ call to follow Him.

I believe this is who we are. I believe this is who you are. I believe we can be the change we’ve voted for—no matter who we voted for.

We'll see...

Today is a big day. Chip brought Brock and Bella along with him to vote. They were happy to see what it was all about. Brock is very interested in the outcome. As most of us are!

Bella said to me the other day, "When you grow up a little bit more maybe you can be the president... we've never had a girl president before!". (Her first grade class has talked a bit about the election and she has seen some 'coverage' on Nickelodeon channel.) But before I could even respond to her she quickly asked, "Wait, do you even know how to be the president? You could go to a special school and learn how to act like a president- then I'll vote for you!"

I just hope whoever gets this big responsibilty knows how to be humble.

That's my vote... a little humilty in this role goes a long way.

So I took Ava along with me "to go vote" and on the way out of the building she said, "Now we can go to the beach!". I laughed and said, "Um, it's a little bit warm today (58 right now!), but it's not a good day to go to the beach; we do that in the summer". She looked at me and said, "But we're supposed to go boating!".

Poor girl! I guess we lost a little something in our communications, but she's alright with that since I promised she can do some scrapping. She's become quite the little creating queen lately. Maybe I can learn a little something from her. Then it's on to presidential-acting school for me. =)

Scrapping again.

That top photo is my scrap space in our upstairs. It's half playroom and half work area for my creative endeavors. I stood back and snapped this photo because it made me realize where my kids get their "love of the cluttered look" from--- me. I blame a lot of the messes around our house on them, but I definitely have to take credit for this chaos. However, if you could zoom in and also if you could get inside my head, you would find there is actually a little bit of a system within this mess. Ask me to find a certain color of pom-pom trim or a pack of buttons and I can lead you right to them. It IS a mess, but it still makes sense to me.

The real point of this post is to say that I scrapped again! I have been away from it- other than to design baby announcements and thank you notes lately and what better way to get back into it than with a box of new products. I was thrilled to win a random blog drawing from Cosmo Cricket last week. Their new product line "Chemistry" showed up at my doorstep and I already scrapped a page which you will be able to see as soon as our SIStv Fashionista Challenge goes live- at the end of this week. Get ready to have your own scrap fun!

Speaking of scrap fun, if you're up for making lots of things for the holidays this year- things like gifts for friends and family members, well then check out the link here- "30 Days to a Handmade Holiday". It's a series of classes all geared toward making your holiday season less stressful and more handmade. It's already a few days underway, but you still have time to jump in and catch up or just start from here on it.

I am excited to try some of the neat projects and I hope to make several gifts myself. My biggest challenge is making things with one hand while I've got Crew in the other. =)

Trick or treat...

Here are some token pictures from Halloween and the morning after. I always loved dumping all my candy out, sorting it and trading pieces with my siblings. My kids are now doing the same thing. They all enjoyed trick-or-treating this year and the weather was really nice for a night of being outdoors in Michigan. This was the first time that Wyndham has shown any interest in dressing up and going out with the kids door to door. She saw their excitement and watched them getting their costumes ready and then she went and got her own shoes and candy bucket. It was the highlight of my day to watch her growing excitement for once.

They did wear shoes too...I just took their picture outside just before they ate dinner. As for Crew and his first Halloween, he was along for the ride in the baby carrier as I passed out candy with my neighbors. We gather in one driveway with a firepit blazing and talk and enjoy the trick-or-treaters all together while the dads all take the kids out on a trailer pulled by a 4-wheeler.

Good memories and lots of fun for the kids.

I happen to like Almond Joys the best...what's your favorite treat?

Beyond perfection

Someone has gotten much more demanding of my time and attention this week. Crew is 6 weeks old today (and weighs exactly 10 pounds) and for whatever reason, has decided to fuss almost on cue, from about 9 pm until 12 pm every night. Hence, the lack of blogposts around here.

This post is a bit of a recap then- a mix of photos, stories and thoughts.

I have been able to get better photos of Ava lately, and most recently it's been for a reward such as, "You can watch the Tinkerbell dvd as soon as you smile for a picture." I am not above bribes for smiles. =) She also has fallen hard for Crew and continues to just love being my helper and smothering him with kisses and attention. I can't forget to document her saying to me yesterday in the van as we drove home from dropping Wyndham off at therapy, she said, "Mommy...I love you with my whole being". Talk about melting me! I'm not sure where that came from, but it did make me think of how many times I love "just enough". It made me want to love more- even when I'm tired- even when I'm at my wit's end- even when someone doesn't 'deserve' all my love.

I have been thinking over and over about God and His love for me- for us. It doesn't make sense to me at how He could love us- even when we don't love Him back. God sits and waits patiently for us as we mess us, make mistakes, turn our backs on Him, follow our selfish plans and dreams in life, and yet He is always there. He loves us with His "whole self" and I can't even begin to comprehend what that really means. Anyway, awhile back one of our guest speakers at church made this statement and it has stuck with me and for some reason it keeps coming to mind this week and that is this:

"He suffered much too much for our hearts to only be stirred from time to time."

Think about that. Read it again. Do you believe it?

If so, what does that mean?

I have been humbled at how my actions in life should look...what kind of response should I have to God, who sent His Son, Jesus, to suffer and pay the penalty for my sin. Jesus died for me- for you- for everyone- in order that He might make a way for us to be reconciled to God forever.

I'm sorry to say that most of the time in my life I don't act like someone who is eternally grateful for His saving grace and salvation. I mess up. I make mistakes. I don't love others with my "whole self". I know I'm not perfect and I yet I want to live my life with purpose and in response to His great love. I love that God forgives and loves beyond perfection. He only asks that we give Him our hearts and thankfully He fills in the gap and provides the way of righteousness.

I just wanted to pass that on to anyone who feels inadequate or overwhelmed or fearful that you've let God down in your life. He is always there. He is a God of compassion and mercy and I just want to thank Him for that again today. I want my heart to be more than stirred...I want to worship and praise Him and love more. Each and everyday.

Okay.

I wasn't planning to write all that, but my heart just felt led to do so.

I intended to just share the following bits from my everyday life this week, which included Bella being so excited about a little book she made and brought to school for show & tell. She was so happy to show her daddy her little book and I captured a photo of her as Chip flipped through her book and listened as she described the pictures and notes written inside. Chip smiled and laughed as he turned the pages and Bella couldn't have been happier. In fact she is a little blurry in the photo because of her delight- she couldn't stand still for her joy.

Brock also came home and literally ran to the front door this week waving a piece of paper as I opened the door to greet him after school. "Mom, mom!", he yelled, "wait til you see my spelling test!" I figured he had gotten 100%, but as he held it up, I could see a couple of checkmarks on his page.

"You got a hundred?" I asked.

"No", he replied, "I got two wrong, but I used my own handwriting and look how great I did!".

Now, this has been a big challenge and area of frustration for him and for Chip and me. We have watched him struggle with neatness and have been very hard on him about trying harder and working on his handwriting. He normally types his spelling words for his tests.

This time, he had written slowly and methodically and his teacher noted his beautiful writing- even though he spelled two words wrong.

Chip was there and we both lavished Brock with praise.

(I tried to take a 'nice picture' of Brock and Chip, but as you can see, they only posed 'good' for a silly photo...the 'nice photo' came out all blurry. Still, I think I love the not-so-nice photo and blurry "good" photo equally...they both tell a story I don't want to forget!)

I love moments such as these in life- when we celebrate effort and hard work and personal accomplishment, even when the results are less than perfect.

I know that time and attention and celebrating little stuff is the kind things my kids will remember lfor a long time. They are the kind of things that shape them more than my being a 'perfect mom'. Sure I yell at times and even threatened "no Christmas presents" because of the chaos and clutter the kids had all over their rooms and playroom. Sure I miss opportunities to tell them how much I love and care for them and sometimes I don't make the best meals or I snap at Chip for some little thing in front of them.

I admit it.

I'm not perfect.

But I hope that they will see beyond perfection and appreciate the things that Chip and I do do right, and I hope they will grow up knowing that we demand much- not perfection- but we just want to push them to their full potential.

I think that is how God sees and loves us. He knows we're not perfect, but He will do everything He can to show us He loves us. He will demand much of us, but it's only because He knows we can do it. He will push us to extremes at times, but in the end, He is there waiting to reward us with blessings.

I love that everyday is another day to strive to be better than the day before. I'm humbled that I don't need to 'measure up' or try to earn God's love and devotion. Just as I love my kids with my "whole self" no matter how good they do on their schoolwork or how well they settle down at bedtime, God's love for us is bigger and better than that toward each of us. He is totally perfect and loves us just the way we are. All the while He works to make us more like Him.

Yes, it's so true...

He suffered much too much for our hearts to only be stirred from time to time. He desires us to be more like Him in all we say and do. Even if we're not perfect.

Snugglebugs.

I hope you can handle the cute-ness factor of Crew wearing the fuzzy blanket sleeper and cap that Grandma Karen sent to him. He has no idea how snuggly he is when he's wearing this outfit. He does have issues with the hat and only likes it when he's asleep. Or should I say, when he doesn't realize it's on his head. Okay...so these cute pictures are for all his Grandmas who love baby pictures.

I also had to take a picture of Bella as she headed to her friend's house for her first sleepover this weekend. She was soooooooo excited and it went really well despite the fact that Bella has a fear of dogs. Her friend had a big Yellow Lab, and we were all concerned about Bella being in the same house as him. She was able to avoid him as much as possible and even mustered up enough courage to pet him once. So she's making progress, but still, if anyone has advice or links to websites or good books about overcoming your fear of dogs, I'd appreciate it!

As if we need to add a dog to our family, right?! Don't worry...we don't have plans for a pet anytime soon. But if we did, it would probably be something small...and snuggly. =)

Dedication Sunday~

Today we joined a few other families in our church in dedicating our children to God. It is a special time for us to publicly say that we acknowledge the need for God's guidance and wisdom as we seek to raise our children according to His will. We have always seen children as a blessing and a gift in our life. This Sunday we just had the opportunity to say , "Thank you God for blessing us with Crew and now we want to commit ourselves as parents/family to be the best we can for him."

Our prayer for Crew was this:

We, as parents, have many hopes and dreams for our children, including Crew at this young age. Our greatest desire is that he will have a heart bent toward God and always seek to follow His will and call in life. We ask for God to not necessarily give Crew "a comfortable, easy life", but rather we ask that God will always be merciful to Crew and be His Source of strength and guide all along life's journey.
We hope that Crew will be a reflection of God's love, grace and mercy now and always.

As I have stated here before, it is no easy task to be a parent, but the rewards far outweigh the challenges. I thank God for trusting us with so many kids and I know I am better for having them in my life. Even as humbling as it can be at times.

It was a special day for our family and we topped it off with homemade pumpkin cheesecake {made by Chip} and whipped cream. That's the perfect way to end almost anyday, if you ask me.

My scrap friends are so good to me.

Click here to see pictures of Crew with the chicken he got at the baby shower my friends held for me this summer. Those little jeans in the picture above came from my friend in Canada. It's definitely jean's weather here in Michigan right now.
Then...
my dear friend, Jo-Anne, made me tear up over a page she scrapped for me. You can see her beautiful page by clicking here. Our hearts and souls have connected between Michigan and Holland. I only wish we didn't have so many miles keeping us apart in "real life". I would have her over for French Toast and Lemon bars if I could.
I just want to tell my 'scrap friends' how much I love and appreciate them in my life. They are all so genuine and creative and sarcastic and fun and most of all, they love me just the way I am. Now that's the kind of friends that are normally so hard to find, but I guarantee you that by joining in the message boards at SIStv, you will find some friends of your own. I'm so thankful for a place to be able to share ideas, recipes, prayer requests, and so much more.
Today I am thankful for all the friendships I have made as a result of scrapping. If you're among them, consider yourself hugged from me today. xoxo

Mr. Monkey Pants

This post is for my sister, Stephanie and her kids, Aly and Luke. We love Crew's new monkey pants- thank you! =) We had to roll them up a bit, but they are just too cute and he'll grow out of them so quickly, that's why we're letting him wear them now. And that irresistible shirt?! Adorable as well, plus it makes for great practice for the kids learning their letters.

I think thw world would be a happier place if we all sewed a little toy to our pockets and had the option of "pulling out some fun" whenever our days called for it. It almost makes me want to be a kid all over again.

Almost. =)

Speaking of kids...I am bombarded with cute kid sayings and "drama" every day and don't document it near enough. So I'll cover just a few from the past week that I can recall.

Ava picked out Barbie cereal at the store and was trying to figure out what one of the marshmallow shapes was in her bowl the other morning. {Really now, did you even know they made Barbie cereal??!! I don't think it has any nutritional value, but it does make your milk change color.} Anyway, she said, "Is this supposed to be the butterfly marshmallow?", to which Brock responds, "No. It doesn't have an exoskeleton so it's definitely not a butterfly."

I just smiled and was pleased to think that our money for tuition is paying off in 4th grade science class at this point in time!

Then there was Bella's observation, "Why do babies love their mommies so much...Crew loves you the best." Uh...I didn't get too far into that except to say that after growing inside a mommy so long they just feel more safe and clam around their mommies. I have to admit though, he is a little momma's boy right now, and I am totally okay with that.

Even Wyndham makes us smile at some of her antics and dances and choices she makes these days. She is loving our little Flip video and I just may have to post her "live" here if I can figure out how to link a video to the blog.

All in all I really am amazed that kids can add so much fun and joy to life in such small and simple ways. I love that I know about stuff like "Horton's Whoberry Shampoo" and how loud kids can sing to a Camp Rock soundtrack. I love that they think store-bought pumpkin sugar cookies are reason to proclaim their love for me, even though all I do is preheat an oven, break the dough apart and bake for 10 minutes. I love that I was thrust into motherhood "against my will" but that my heart has forever been changed as a result and I am a better person for having my "will broken".

I am just grateful today for little things like monkeys sewn into pockets and Johnson's baby wash. I may be sleep-deprived but I'm still able to see the simple blessings in our days. Here's to doing that in our lives...it makes it so much more fun.

More thoughts on the game...

Here are more pictures of Crew. If you're related to him and live out-of-state, these are for you. Click on the top photo to enlarge it and see the little bubbles he made with his mouth as he slept. I love tiny baby bubbles and probably spent too much time watching him make them yesterday. But it was one of my "big plays" in the game we call life.

I was thinking more about the idea of making big plays and being ready for the snap in reference to my post yesterday and I have come to another conclusion. I felt more on top of things as I ran a couple of errands and got a quick haircut and picked the kids up from school and topped off the day by making tacos for dinner. It felt good to "get things done", but what I found out was when I left Crew and Ava with Chip for a couple of hours and came home to a baby sleeping with a pacifier in his mouth (he has only used it about 4 times and usually only for a few minutes at a stretch) and he was content and Ava was happily playing, and I noticed how much I missed just being home with them.

Just being home with them.

It's no small thing.

It's a "big play" in the game of life. It's the season of life for our family right now and I realized that my main focus and challenge is to be a good mom and wife and to soak up the moments that connect the hours of our days. Like the bubbles that Crew made as he slept...I could miss them or ignore them altogether and maybe I could have used that time to make Jell-o, but instead I soaked up time. Time that I will never get a chance to take back. Time that slips away all too quickly. Time that I will, sometime in the future, wish for as I look back on these {way too many} photos that I take.

Yes, there's something to be said about being on top of our game. But I think what's also so important is knowing what "position you are playing" and recognizing the importance of that, and then making the most of how it all matters in the scheme of things.

Today I made another "big play".

I took a nap. =)

Or should I say, Chip allowed me to sleep while Crew slept- through the dinner hour and even longer- and it felt so good. I can't thank him enough for stepping it up and letting me get that rest. Not only that, but he also made dinner for the family, and I awoke to the smell of brownies baking in the kitchen and I heard kids' happy voices. Now that's a big play! I think that's what I'm trying to say. Maybe making dinner and letting someone sleep doesn't seem like a big deal, but it made a big difference for me today and that's what life is about.

Showing people how much you care and giving of yourself and being in the moment so that it makes a difference in the lives of others around you. I have to admit, I love blogging and praying for many of you and sending emails to encourage others and laughing and crying as I "share life" with many of you- friends, family and 'strangers'. I may not get all the clutter picked up around our house each day, but I am glad when I take time to answer notes and stay in touch and care about what happens to you and those you love too. Thanks for letting me make plays in your lives and reminding me that this- this season of life- is so important to savor and just be in it as it unfolds. I strive to live with purpose and intention, and that, I believe, is what makes all the difference in "the game".

Life lessons from the locker room...

The top two photos here are basically the way you would see me if you were to stop by my house at any given point in the day. No wonder moms carry their babies to term for 9 months...it's preparation for carrying them around for the next several weeks after birth! I'm learning how to do lots of things one-handed. Like open cheese sticks and put toothpaste on the kids' brushes. I feel very talented at times, and totally inept at others. Such is parenthood... isn't it?!
Lest you think I only take photos of Crew, I am sharing these pictures I took of Brock. I rarely order school photos because I feel like they never capture the personality of the child very well. These photos of Brock took me several minutes to 'work out of him' and even then, you can see the progression of his personality come through. He went from rolling his eyes at me, to finally looking at me with a smirk, and then I started making jokes about Hannah Montana and that's when I got the results I was hoping for. It's also one of the reasons I have thousands of digital photos piling up on my laptop...I should just tell the jokes upfront and save myself some trouble, huh?!
As for the lesson from the locker room, well, it's basically for me. But if you can take something away from it, help yourself. =)
I happened to be rocking a restless newborn as Chip flipped through the channels on tv the other night. He stopped at one point {I have no idea what channel or show it was}, and watched a few minutes of a pep talk given by the Minnesota Gopher's football coach just before the start of a game. He [the coach] was really pumping up the team and laying it all out there- his expectations and their ability and basically just was firing up the team to "go get 'em". One of the statements he made struck me and I have been thinking about it off and on for a few days now. He basically said go out there and play at the top of your game- not just some of the plays, but at every snap...every play demands your best effort.
I can't help but think about that in terms of everyday life. Maybe because I feel like I haven't been at the top of my game lately. Some of that is to be expected. Some of it is due to other circumstances- like the mild infection I got and the antibiotics I've been on for a week. That sort of stuff happens. But I really have been thinking about what a great message and statement that is to aspire to- and I wonder how things would be different if I actually put that into practice.
There are lots of implications and I guess I sometimes feel like I don't need to put my 'game face' on when I'm just home with my family doing routine "stuff". But if I think about my life as a big game, and really it IS bigger than any football game ever could be- even the ordinary days, well then I have a lot of big plays to make and catch up on.
I find I am good about being IN the moment...but I need to work on making the MOST of every moment. And being my best in those moments. Not just when I feel good or when something seems important, but as a mom, as a wife, as a friend, as one who believes in Heaven and eternity, and as one who only gets one shot in life. I need reminding to stay on top of my game. The more I remind myself of these lessons, the better player I think I will be. Easier said than done...