Linus Christmas Monologue

Another year, another photo shoot

Here are two of my favorite from our photo session with our good friend Jonathan. We have done this three years now and it is always a blast. I love my family and I am very blessed!

My First 10K

I woke up on Thanksgiving morning to the sound of massive rain hitting our roof. I was tempted to roll back over and snuggle up with Joel but decided to get my butt up and get on my running shoes. I am now glad that I had to prepay almost $50 to run this race or I have a feeling I would have rolled right on over to go back to sleep. After drinking my coconut water and eating a banana I headed out to the Bengals stadium. It was raining so hard that while I walked from my car to my stadium, I was completely soaked and once again wishing I was snuggled up in my bed. I walked into the stadium to find myself surrounded by thousands of people.. all trying to stay dry and prepare and stretch for the 6.2 miles ahead of us. We finally headed outside to the starting line and so it began. The rain had stopped by then and I was now surrounded by all kinds of people, from many walks of life, of all shapes and sizes, ready to cross the finish line. Many people were there to cheer us along the way. We ran through the city and then crossed a bridge into Kentucky and eventually made our way over another bridge back into Cincinnati. The rain held off most of the race. I could not help but hold back tears as I crossed the finish line. It was not easy for me but yet easier than I had thought it would be. It is such a great feeling to know that I have set my mind to something I thought would be impossible for me, and to push through and do it. I felt great the rest of the day. I came home to find my husband working hard in the kitchen to get Thanksgiving dinner ready to go. We sat down, just the four of us, and had a great time eating together. Then we all rested and took naps and then headed to the Hensley's house. This is a dear family we met from our previous church. We played games and laughed and had such a great time that Nevaeh has been begging me all day to go back. Even though we were not with our families today, it was truly a great day filled with love and thankfulness. It even ended with the rain turning over to snow. It was a good day indeed.

Two days until Thanksgiving. I am ready.... a bit freaked out for my 10K that morning but am trying to tell myself it will be a good experience and that I will not die :)
the house is completely decorated for Christmas. I can't wait until after Thanksgiving to do it. I am too excited to savor every moment.
We are getting our annual family photos this Friday. I found outfits for the girls no problem but now am faced with the huge challenge of what to wear myself. UGH.

my second 5K

I beat my time! It was a beautiful morning.. almost 70 degrees that day. It feels so good to accomplish something I never thought I would be able to do. Now I am signed up for a 10K on Thanksgiving morning. It starts at the Bengals stadium and we will be running downtown and over bridges.. I am super nervous and have already told myself it is okay if I have to walk some. I am only halfway through training for a 10K but I am wiling to give it a try, knowing it is okay to walk some. Not much, but some. It is supposed to be cold and rainy.. should make it interesting!

"Because of Your Love" by Phil Wickham

I LOVE THIS SONG. and Phil Wickham.

widsom

Sometimes I think my nine year old has more wisdom than I do. That is either saying a lot about me or says a lot about her. I hope it is just saying a lot about her. We were getting ready for church yesterday and we headed to the car. Jesslyn started to cry and said she didn't have friends at church and that she wanted to go to her old church. We have recently changed churches and the transition has went very well for my kids. Better than I expected but yesterday was a different story. I did not know how to handle it and did not feel strong enough to even try so I went and sat down, throwing my own kind of fit and fighting tears. Nevaeh walked over to me and said "mommy, if Grandma and Grandpa were here they would tell you that Jesslyn does not get to be the one to make the choice. We need to go and she is going to just have to deal with it". She was right... and I thanked her for it. This is also the girl who told me that if I made her go to another church, she was going to get up on stage and yell how much she hated it! I am thankful the transition has been easy for her. It is never fun to have to change something that was once a huge part of our life. Thank you Jesus that you are faithful and that all is going well with this change, except for a little snag here and there.

I hope both of my girls are full of wisdom. I know that there will be times when they do not use their best judgement but I hope that they are at least seeking right things.

30 Things I am Thankful For

Some of these things are meaningful and some are pretty shallow but are still things I am thankful for :) In no particular order. :)


1. a husband who does not play video games all day and sit in his boxers. He works hard, thank you Jesus.
2. two healthy kids.... I am learning daily to not take this for granted because it could change at any moment.
3. parents who are my best friends. They are full of wisdom and strength for me.
4. a house that keeps us warm.
5. running water and electricity......
6. not living under a dictatorship... having freedom.
7. the chance to go visit my family often. THANKFUL
8. Skype.. this helps me be able to talk to my sister's family.. face to face.
9. a church where the Bible is preached and the teaching is relevant to my life.
10. Mark Driscoll and his ministry.... I have learned so much from his teachings.
11. the chance to stay home and teach my girls.
12. Target :)
13. coffee
14. technology...
15. my hair straightener
16. my Uggs.. keeping my toes warm all winter :)
17. good and faithful friends
18. a large extended family.. I do not see them much but am thankful for all the memories as a kid.
19. my own health and health of my husband... we take this for granted.
20. the health of my parents... they can never die. I will not allow it :)
21. being raised with balanced parents.. letting me make my own choices within reason.... and not being legalistic.
22. my phone... sad, but not sure what I would do without it.
23. my deck.... being able to sit out and read in the warm sun.
24. Trader Joe's... a good place to work and great place to get groceries.
25. coconut and chocolate together... mmmm.
26. fall... pumpkins and leaves.
27. peppermint... I love anything peppermint.
28. laughter
29. my running shoes.. and my running app.
30. Jesus

My girls have my heart.

Nevaeh- I love your tender heart. Please always stay that way. Everytime we watch a sad movie, you end up in tears. You are giving, sensitive, and are literally the best big sister ever. There are so many times when Jesslyn irritates you so bad that you should just punch her (sometimes you do) but for the most part, you know what to do to make it right. You follow rules and know your own boundaries. Please stay like this. It will keep you out of a lot of trouble as you get older.

Jesslyn- you are still little to me.. but have always been independent. You make me laugh. You love to sing and dance and carry around a microphone. You are developing a love for reading which makes me so happy because your sister still hates it :) You love to help me crack eggs when I'm baking.. and you are pretty good at not getting any shells in. You are still little enough to need me and to cuddle on me.. maybe you will always want to do that. I sure hope so.

Yesterday, I was feeling a tremendous amount of love for my kids. I love them everyday but there are often days that I take for granted as a mom. Times when I just get irritated, times when I just can't wait to put you in bed. I am not sure why, but yesterday was one of those days where I felt so much love and so much happiness to be your mom. What a great calling and what a great mission for my life. To parent you, to mother you, to help you grow up to be the women God has called you to be. Love is a funny thing. It is strong, it is unbreakable and often unexplainable.

I made bread and pumpkin pie today. My house smells like my Grandma Betty's. I am certain the bread and pie are not nearly as tasty as hers, but at least it smells good in here. Man, I sure do miss her even more this time of year.

Sister Wives

Is anyone else extremely fascinated and at the same time greatly disturbed by the new TLC show, Sister Wives?
I got caught up watching it yesterday. It is one man, married to three women, engaged to one. (I think they might be married by now). Between all of them they have like 16 or so children. Small all the way to teenagers. When he decided he wanted to court his fourth wife, he sat the family down and asked their thoughts... One young boy shouted, "go get em tiger!" Disturbing. Then while the one wife was having a baby, he said, "it feels a little weird to kiss my girlfriend while my wife is in labor." Then, the women constantly say how more is merrier, but at the same time they talk a lot about jealousy issues. I could not live like this. I could not share. It is like the man gets tired with the last wife so finds a new one to "court" and then adds her to the mix. No thanks. And do they really have a right to be jealous? Seriously? I don't think they do.
I have come to the conclusion..... women might be able to share recipes but not MEN. :) at least that's what this woman says.

ART CLASS.... and more

Wednesdays are the days my girls go to art class for an hour and a half! YES... it is awesome... I get to go have breakfast with a friend and they get to learn things that I am not smart enough to teach them. PERFECT.

The weather is getting colder. I love it but this means I make more fattening foods and feel like sipping on hot chocolate all day long. It is not as easy to be motivated to do much more than read a book or watch a movie when the weather is cold.

I listened to a podcast of Driscoll today on religion. It was so good. I am so thankful that I do not have a DO THIS or DON'T DO THIS list. I am thankful for freedom and grace in Him. I am guilty of having my own to do list and of convincing myself that if I do those things I am better or if I do not do those things I am worse. Thank goodness for grace and that He looks at my heart. There is nothing I can or cannot do to change His love for me. Thank you Jesus, for I am unworthy and hopeless without You.

My sweet superheros

Trick or Treat was a blast this year. We started off the day by heading to church. The kids wore they costumes and then afterwards we had trunk or treat. They got TONS of candy. Then we met up with some friends to hit up some neighborhoods at night. We went through several houses for two straight hours. My kids have SO much candy. They got several huge king size candy bars and many other huge things... and they had a blast. Lot of fun memories were made. I love this time of year. We are making memories that will last my girls a lifetime and for that I am forever thankful.