Splash in the Rain Puddles

For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given;  and the government shall be upon His shoulder.  And He shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,  Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  ~Isaiah 9:6~ ....one of the most beautiful passages of scripture and my favorite to reflect on during the Christmas season.  What an amazing promise of God....that He would send his Son...in the form of an innocent baby....to save the world.  I strive to keep that at the forefront of all that I do this month.  As I'm buying, baking, packaging, singing....I remind myself that these are acts of love....acts of love done to demonstrate and model the love that God poured out to us when He gave the world His son.  best. gift. ever. :)  Wishing you a very blessed Christmas season.  

Yes!  here it is.  a lull in the action.  i'm so grateful for the thick fog outside my window that is tricking my boys into thinking it's still somewhat dark outside. :)  that, combined with their late night of Christmas tree decorating is hopefully going to gain me an extra hour of quiet this morning.  some time to recap our Thanksgiving trip.  We started out a bit rough.......as in our 9 hour trip somehow turned into 11, Jack got carsick, and within an hour of arriving at my brothers house the boys had broken 2 glasses, both had injuries that drew blood, and a collision that caused a goose egg on my baby's noggin.  But things turned around quickly.  Like on Wednesday morning we slept in until 8:00.  That my friends, is three hours later than usual.  awesome.  And we had great weather for the first few days, giving the boys all the outside time they wanted.  Uncle Josh and Aunt Meredith have a wooded back yard with lots of sti...

When you are 2 your mommy gets the biggest kick out of hearing you talk.....when you are 2 you are just figuring out how to put words into sentences.....when you are 2 it gets so frustrating when you are so clearly trying to make a point and mommy just can't seem to get it.....when you are 2 you are still trying to figure out what all these words mean and how to tell the difference between the ones that sound the same.  Take yesterday for instance.  On the way home from dropping Jack off at school, Chase tells me, "I want alligator when we home."  An alligator?  yep, that's what he said.  First of all, I had never heard him say alligator before and second of all, I could not figure out why he now thought he wanted one.  The entire drive home he kept saying it....and even turned it into a song.  I brushed it off and felt content to let his little imagination run wild.  We get home, pull into the garage, he hops out of his seat, goes directly to the...

It's that time of year again.  We have turned back our clocks and suddenly after dinner it is pitch black outside.  NOOO!  Gone are the days where we would finish eating and I would say, "ok boys, ready to get back outside!?".  I have contemplated strapping head lights to their foreheads and sending them out anyway.....but thinking about the reactions of our neighbors shut down that idea rather quickly. :)  It's just that the amount of energy stored up in a 5 year old body needs an outlet.  And the wide open space of the back yard is just the perfect spot to let it all out.  As you can see I'm still in the adjustment phase of the outdoors being stripped away from our evening hours.  But I am thankful that my boys seem to have an appreciation for music.....and expressing themselves through music.  So after dinner when I have to say no to going outside, when they just cannot seem to sit and play with toys or books, there is only one thing ...

My devotions this morning were focused on the love of God.  How amazing it is.  I immediately thought of words to my favorite hymn.  Hymns truly are great things.  Someone once encouraged me to read through hymns as part of my quiet time.  I love reading the words that I've sung so many, many times.  Words of such truth and wisdom that are still as relevant today as they were when they were penned.  So I thought I would share a verse from my favorite, The Love of  God . Could we with ink the ocean fill,  and were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above,  Would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky. O love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong. It shall forevermore endure The saints' and angel's song.   I think of this verse so often.  I l...

There are few things about winter that make me super happy.  Of course there are all of the wonderful holidays and gatherings that happen during this time of year...which I absolutely love.....but I'm talking about the winter weather.  The cold, the bare trees, the short daylight hours, the freezing rain, the snow...things of that nature.....I'm just not a huge fan.  However there is one thing that I do love as a result of all those things.  Actually two things.  First the fact that it means I get to see a lot more of my hubby and second is this..... This is a wonderful thing.  We had our first fire of the season last night and it made the fact that it was cold and rainy outside so much more manageable.  This is by far one of the best features of our home.  I love the atmosphere it creates, the smell it makes, the sounds of the crackling wood, and most of all the toasty warmth it brings to my body.  I've been known to fall asleep on th...

So here we are on the other side of the storm.....the refrigerator is still stocked, the bathtubs still filled with water, the flashlights and the generator still on standby.  In other words....we never lost power!!!  which is mind boggling considering how hard it was blowing and raining.....the lights flashed throughout the day but never went off completely.  We are so thankful electricity and our thoughts are with all those who are still without power.  Spending over 24 hours confined to our house with my 2 boys made me even more grateful for our spacious back yard where we spend the majority of our time.  Whew....those boys need open air.....bouncing off the walls does not even begin to describe the situation in our house around 6pm last night :)  But I do love them dearly.  And am so thankful that we are safe and sound and leaving Sandy in our past.  I'm anxious to see what the daylight brings.  More updates to come on the ...