Annabelle on Creation

Annabelle: Mom, God made our bodies and Jesus made our faces.

Me: [Not really how to respond] Uh...

Annabelle: Mom, are our ears a part of our faces or our bodies?

Me: Uh...

Shoe Fettish

Apparently girls aren't the only ones who can have a shoe fettish!

Thanks for the new shoes, Aunt Lissa!

Craziness

It's hard to know how to put the events of the last week into words. Maybe I shouldn't even attempt, but part of me wants to never forget how God has shown up in this process in clear, evident ways for Eric, myself, and our girls. Our girls are too small to understand all that is happening, so I want them to be able to one day read about the kind of God who makes Himself known in the day to day-ness of our lives.


We were approached last week by our Caseworker (CW) about the possibility of taking a boy for a month or two. Because it was fairly temporary and because we were anxious for a placement, we agreed. Due to circumstances beyond our control, that placement didn't happen. But, our CW told us about another little boy who needed a home.


Eric and I spoke briefly about it on the phone, coming to the conclusion that we didn't have to make a decision immediately and agreeing to talk when he got home.


I began drying my hair (it was 3:00 in the afternoon--Moms, you know how that goes, right?) and started to dialogue with God. "Really, God? For real?"


Hear me when I say that I've heard people relate stories like this before and thought that they were totally crazy. I guess it's okay if you think I'm crazy.


As clearly as if He'd written it in the sky God asked: "When exactly did you begin picturing your family without boys?"


It's a good question. I guess the answer would have to be when I started giving birth to girl, girl, and girl! But, in all honesty, like all couples, before children came, there were some of each in our dreams.


It was clear to me in that instant that our answer had to be yes. That for this time in our lives, this was the child God has chosen for us. Is it crazy? This entire ride has been crazy, so I'm not sure why I'm surprised. I think I even told a friend at one point that God was crazy! He does ask us to do crazy things. And He does work in crazy ways.


On Tuesday afternoon our little boy arrived. We are bound by laws of confidentiality, so his name or picture will never be found here.


We've found that having a boy in the house changes a lot of the tempo of our home, confirming what we've always known to be true: little boys and little girls are very different.


He walked over to the play kitchen in the playroom soon after his arrival, picked up a few pots, declared that he was going to "cook something" and proceeded to bang the pots together!


We were walking through the mall yesterday and he sang, ran, jumped, and whooped, and listened to his echo the entire time we were there. He attracted the knowing smiles of many!


I was explaining part of our nap time routine to him yesterday: how we have a quiet time and then we take naps. His response: "I don't know how to be quiet!"


Of course, when we are out, I get the comment "Boy, your hands are full!" and the question, "Are they all yours?" It's an understandable question since I'm towing a one, two, three, and four year old around! But it's one I'm not sure how to answer at this moment. Today I answered, "He's not." and Ella Grace came back with, "Yes he is!" Bless her sweet, tender heart! Our girls have loved on this little boy like crazy!


The obvious question from us is what lies ahead. For now, we're resting in the fact that God can be trusted! He's shown us that if nothing else. We're enjoying Him by loving on four little kiddos that keep us on our toes, keep us busier than busy, and keep us laughing 24/7!

Paris Mt. State Park

Flower Hair Clips

Had to post pics of these adorable hair clips I made the girls this afternoon. Instructions can be found here!

Now, if I can just finish the skirts to go with them!

DIY Art Display

To know our girls is to know they are crafty. Not sure where that comes from!! Our problem is that they want to save every scrap of paper that they've doodled, glued, cut, glittered, or colored on! We've tried several different methods of storage, but haven't really had much luck in finding something that worked for us.

Because our house has a playroom, we decided to kill two birds with one stone: decorating and a place for the girls to display their artwork. Here's what we came up with:

Once they run out of room, they have to decide what goes in the trash (we haven't actually reached that point yet; we'll see how that works!)! We simply bought a few bulletin boards, painted the frames, personalized each with wooden letters, and hung them up (Katie does have one too; it's just not pictured).

Total cost: Bulletin Boards ($7 on sale @ Target); Letters ($1.99 @ Hobby Lobby); Paint ($.99 @ Hobby Lobby); Total (approx. $10 each)!!

A few things I learned along the way:

1. The frame of the bulletin boards had a laminate that had to be sanded off. This was the thing that took the longest during the whole project.

2. My original plan was to mount the letters on the board with double sided tape. I didn't buy the tape in advance, so balanced the letters as they are pictured. I like them so much this way, that we've decided this is how they should stay!

3. It is so nice to have a place to put the girls' projects and they are so proud of their displays!

Our Easter Baskets

We've never done the "traditional" for Easter baskets. We skip the chocolate bunnies and jelly beans (don't worry, we got tons of candy from the Easter Egg hunts with our friends and family). One year each kid got a new DVD, one year a new baby doll...

This year the girls hunted for eggs with clues inside that led them to the coat closet where their baskets were hidden (thanks, Tracy, for the fun idea)!

This year, they found art boxes in their baskets.

Each box contains things the girls can work with independently: scissors, crayons, foam stamps, a glue stick, pom poms, google eyes, etc. The theory is that they'll be able to clean up independently also (we'll see how that goes!)! The boxes are small enough that they can easily be transported to the doctor's office, a restaurant with a long wait, gymnastics, an extended car ride, etc. For the curious, Katie got a new set of markers designed for little ones and her very own Magna Doodle (which she's dragged along behind her all afternoon).

What about you? What did your kids get in their baskets this year? Any creative ideas for us next year?

"He is risen..."

"He is risen indeed!"

Our church has the tradition of using this traditional greeting on Easter. It was a joy to teach it to our girls today and hear them use it throughout the day! Something was different about Easter this year. We did the traditional egg hunts (three to be exact!), dyed eggs, packed Easter baskets (more on that tomorrow!).
Still, there was something different. I think it has something to do with a more acute awareness of who I am. And what Christ did for me. And who I am because of what He did for me.

It was different because we heard our kids articulate how happy they were that Jesus is alive and ask questions like: "What does salvation mean?" Hope your Resurrection day was blessed!

Wait for it...Wait for it!

Easter Egg Fun

Wishin' for Freckles

Ella Grace: "How come Adam [a boy in her class at school] is younger than me but has SO MANY more freckles than I have?"

GO MSU!