Busted

This picture doesn't really do it justice, but the above is a broken windshield.
The other day the girls were playing in one of the cars out in the shop and Shelby was the "driver". I guess she slammed the brakes on too fast. Celene's head cracked the windshield. And we thought girls weren't supposed to do things like that! Her head was fine, she didn't even cry. We're still not exactly sure how it happened, maybe she jumped and hit the windshield? Jeff is to be commended for the calm way in which he dealt with this expensive accident!

Birthday Princess

Celene and I were talking about her birthday a few weeks ago and she told me most decidedly that she would like to have her birthday party at Aunt D's house.  Who wouldn't?  The party came complete with a princess outfit..

..a special pink and white dessert that would thrill any little girl

and lots of attention and kindness from the whole family

I've been thinking about what a difference a year can make in a child's life.  She is still very much a toddler in many ways, full of questions and energy.  But the difference from last year is that she is now a toddler I'm willing to take out in public ;) 

We are really enjoying this age a lot.  We love her little sayings, love watching her grow in affection for Shelby. She doesn't like to do anything without Shelby.

She is starting to be such a big help to me, often showing initiative to see things that need done around the house. I can certainly see that God knew what He was doing to give her to us first :)   I wouldn't have guessed that someone her age could be so helpful, it's been a nice surprise!

Happy Birthday Sweetie Girl!!

Quiet on the Home Front

It was one of those weeks where I kept my schedule very free on purpose. Three projects were needing attention and I knew I had to start into them.

Cleaning out the garage

Making Celene's two year picture book (before the coupon expired!)

Christmas projects

It was nice to have some quiet, at home days.  Lots of reading aloud to the girls in between projects and nap times.

I say they were quiet days but, that sure means something different these days with a mischief maker (or two) on the loose.

This was after she painted herself and the walls with peanut butter. 

NYC

Last year for Christmas Natalie and Evan gave us a weekend away in New York City.  The weather forecast was predicting a cold, windy and rainy weekend.  Normally, I would have opted for comfort and warmth.  Nice sensible walking shoes, winter coat, use my pockets instead of a purse, etc.  Maybe my fashionable sister is wearing off on me, I opted for style instead. But then I realized I didn't particularly have anything stylish in my closet that would work for the weekend. Dum-dee-dum-dum! My mom and sister to the rescue.  They let me raid their closets and gave me a few early birthday presents.

 

So by the end of the day I was slightly chilly, my feet were a bit sore from walking around the city in high heels and my shoulder was nearly dislocated from carrying an adorable purse that was the size of a small suitcase.

But what's a girl to do?  The only other option was comfort-

The Ellis Island museum was wonderful!! We spent 3 1/2 hours there and definitely could have stayed longer. 

After the museum we headed over to the Statue of Liberty and we would have gone inside if we hadn't been 8 minutes late. Arrgh.

Central Park was so beautiful! It would have been fun to take more pictures there, but we were in danger of turning into ice statues if we stood still for too long.

We summed up our New York experience like this- what was good was really good, the rest of the time we were just confused. But we would still go back. Lots of "oops we just walked five miles away from the train station. Why did people send us to the ferry when it's closed on Saturday? I don't have a clue where we are, do we even remember the name of our hotel?" (Ok maybe it wasn't quite that bad ;)

The food was part of what was really good!   We had Japanese the first night and then went to an Italian restaurant in Little Italy the next evening.  We were some of the only  non-Italian speaking people in the room, which made our pasta taste more authentic :)

The most fascinating sight of the weekend - egg prices.  We went into a grocery store off of Times Square and the eggs ranged from $3.30 - $6.50 a dozen.  There wouldn't be any quiche or custard in our house, that's for sure!

Thanks to all family members involved in watching the kiddos and running the business!

Food for Thought

Recently, we heard a Christian counselor say that the majority of people they see, deal with the same root sin. * Although it manifests itself in different ways, usually anger or hurt, the issue most likely is rooted in unforgiveness.  For the next day or so after I heard that I thought of all the "big" conflicts that I know about. I decided that yes, I could see how  unforgiveness was a key factor in many of them.  But then a still small voices reminded me to look at my own heart. 

Am I walking in forgiveness in  "little" ways on an everyday basis?

Am I quick to take offense, sure that the other person intended to say something hurtful?

Do I keep a record of wrongs?

Do I truly forgive in the same way that I would like God to forgive me?

On close examination I see that I have a lot more growing to do in this area than I would have thought at first.  It's rather hypocritical to even think of telling others to forgive if I'm not willing to put it into practice in small, everyday ways.

* Of course, this statement is taken out of context.  He wasn't saying  everyone who comes for counseling or every situation is due to unforgiveness.

Five years + a few days..

I think one of the things I most appreciate about my husband is that five years ago he thought I was perfect and treated me like a queen.  Today he knows that I am full of flaws yet he still treats me like a queen :)  On our anniversary I came home to a trail of flowers and cards through our house! Sweet.

We are thankful for five happy years of marriage, knowing truly that it is a gift from God's hand.