A Worthy Meaning

Who'd have thought that preschool would increase my magazine browsing? Actually, my son has had an ongoing project to collect images according to what letter they start with, so we have gathered up magazines to go on our little hunt.
Christmas issues, Easter issues...all of a sudden I see an explosion of Christmas crafts, Easter edibles, gift ideas, egg stuffers...blah, blah, blah...If you don't believe in the Christian message of the holidays...then basically you're just celebrating stuff. How fun is that? No, really, how satisfying, enjoyable is that? Sometimes it is fun...if you are a crafter, if you are a baker, or an eater (ha). But what about the second after the celebration is over? Do you feel lacking? Are you depressed that all the crap (excuse my word choice) you've collected, created, half-eaten, is no longer worth anything but landfill waste?

We're coming up on the final week of Lent, the days leading up to Easter Sunday. And I am glad that I actually have something more to look forward to than the stuff...I look forward to affirming my belief that Christ died for my sins and rose on the third day. And the second after our celebration is over, the meaning of all we've celebrated will not become waste, but everlasting life for each day to come!

A Grand Canyon Kinda Time

Ah, the Grand Canyon. It's such a national/global marvel, so hyped up, that I was expecting to go to it and just check it off my list of places to visit.
But it was grander than I thought, more beautiful than I expected. Supposedly it is rare to see it with snow along the rim, so that even contrasted its rich color. And we only saw about 5% of it, and just that was a breath-taking experience....for me.

Can you believe we were only looking at a tiny portion of the Grand Canyon?

 It is 250 miles long!

Yeah, take three boys with overly zealous taste for adventure and competitive drive, and you'll not just appease them by walking along the rim of such magnificent beauty. Even though they had been talking about the Grand Canyon for months with anticipation for our trip, within 10 minutes of looking at it, they said,
"Let's go down it now."
"Uh...we can't do that. It'll take all day and it's a hard climb."
Whine, whine, whine, "I want to go down! Why'd we come all this way (4 hrs from Phoenix) to just look at it? Let's go back to the hotel."

Seriously? It's not like there weren't great meandering trails along the edge to admire the beauty, and even fun rocks to climb...but my boys wanted to CONQUER it!

My husband looked at me and said, "I know how they feel...hard to resist that urge, even for me."

My baby girl kept pointing to it...she knew what Mama's talkin' about!

So, I could sit and contemplate God's magnificent hand in such a wondrous place...all day...But my boys (and my man) would rather break a sweat, HIKE all day, and accomplish the feat of reaching the bottom.

well..she was ok, until passed off to a bro...and look at that snow!

Funny how differently we are wired!

A One Year Old Joy!

My sweet baby girl is One!

My, how time flies...that is starting to become a theme to my blogposts. I just can't believe how fast time speeds by in this season of life.

She's a giggler, a mama's girl (won't let anyone hold her without a fight), 

a dancer...oh how she loves to dance! 

She loves her brothers, their silliness cracks her up already. 

She smiles at just about anyone, as long as Mama's shoulder is nearby to rest her cheek on.

And sometimes, she'll squint her eyes with a big old grin like she's trying to wink. 

And when she's tired...she cuddles with her daddy, who rocks her to sleep. 

Oh....and she LOVES cake.

A true sweet tooth, through and through...like Mama....like Daddy....and her brothers...must be in our blood!

What's been goin' on?

So, it's been 11 days since I posted.

Life is in full BLOOM along with all the flowering trees in our neighborhood!

We have celebrated birthdays, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and added more national treasures to our sight-seeing bucket list. I'll be back this week to fill you in...as soon as I get my pictures downloaded!

Happy Sunday (night!)!

Making Way for Family Decisions

On the way home from dropping the boys off at school, a fire truck turned on its sirens and the cars beside, behind, and ahead of me, swerved to the outside lanes to let it pass. Whenever this happens, I am flooded with mixed emotions. I feel a sympathy rise up for whoever is on the other end of the call, sometimes I whisper a prayer. But I also feel an overwhelming sense of duty and pride, that above all the bickering, the road rage, the differences of my fellow citizens, we all submit to making room to help  those in dire straights (hey, I know it's probably illegal not too, but I am an idealist and it's a nice practical image)!
My husband and I went on a date last night. We used to go on a date about once a week, every other week. This has been our second date in 5 months. Yikes! The downfall of moving cities and babysitters! Oh, and also having a little baby again....forgot how hard that can be for the sitter!
We coupled our date with a school meeting we needed to attend, so our time at dinner was really precious. Wow, didn't realize how much we needed to discuss. And yet, we could only skim the surface. If only the emergency response team of family decisions parted the minutes of the clock and made them wait on the sidelines so we could hash out our life! Nothing terrible, but life decisions all the same---schools, future homes, church---the topics we as parents and husband and wife must share like-mindedness, as well as plan a clear next step.
After our dinner, we pushed along, showing up late to the school meeting, and allowing the minutes to crowd our way, to keep us from tending to our own neediness. 
I don't want to let the clock push us past where we need to go by the mere mention of a topic at a 30 minute dinner. I want to discuss, to weigh our options, to put the clock on hold so we can prepare for the clear next step. As I grow up, I realize how much time can be an obstacle, just like a giant eighteen wheeler is to a rushing fire truck.
Hopefully, we will carve out time in the busy traffic jam of life, make our pit stops, instead of letting emergency decisions grow disasterous from crowded lanes of time. I don't want those pesky minutes to get the best of us!

Playing A Toothy Tune

It's about time. I wonder what her face looked like when she first discovered that sharp jaggedy thing poking from her gums? Perhaps she said, in her nearly one year old head,
"All that pain for this?! I already figured out how to eat by gumming things to death...is this really necessary?"

Yeah, my baby girl had quite a go of teething these past months. All your typical symptoms dragged out day after day...See her chewing her brother's lollipop stick? Ugh, she is sneaky! Also notice her runny nose...yep, she's a teether!

Her total of three teeth two weeks away from her first birthday is on the slow side of things since her brothers had mouthfuls by this time in their infancy. But, I like my little girl's pace. Slow and steady so we can enjoy the precious time that she is a sweet innocent babe!

My favorite thing she's been doing lately, is rolling her tongue in and out, all the while singing. It's the sweetest sound and she seems to be pretty proud of herself. We figured out yesterday that she just started doing this after her tooth came in. Yep, finding uses for the jagged thing, a way to scratch her tongue and play a tune! Here's the best snippit I could get of her little habit:

LOVE this girl!