Laughing Out Loud

I found some photos.  I know, you all are shocked.  :)  There I was, planning to post something all crafty, because for once in my life I remembered to take photos of a project, when I found these fantastical photos.  And I laughed.  Out loud.  No, really, not just like IM speak "lol" - I really laughed out loud.

The first:

This is so hilarious because what you don't see is my daughter's face when she realizes there was something in the bucket that she put on her head.  "What was inside?"  You ask.  Water.  That she put there.  Two seconds before this photo was snapped.  :)  See - you're starting to think about laughing aren't you????

Then there is this photo - which needs no explanation save my husband has waited his entire life to have children for a moment like this:

I'm sorry, can we just zoom in on that face a bit:

Ah, parenthood.  :)  Happy weekend!

On Missions.

I have a heart for missions.  No, like a heart that wants to move to Kodiak, AK someday to help with missions on the Emerald Isle - kind of heart - for missions.  I feel very called to serve in that particular place for my Lord.  But, the time is not yet.  Regardless of my love for the people of Kodiak I know that the Lord has me here, in this time, and in this place for a purpose.  He's been teaching me about contentment.  He's been teaching about my role and job as a missionary to my neighbors.  He's opened doors and shut them.  He's moving and creating opportunities to share the Good News that is Jesus Christ.  (Can I get and Amen?!)  

That said, Husband and I have talked several times about instilling a love for missions in our children.  What does that look like?  How do we do it?  How do you show them to perceive the needs of others - both spiritual and physical?  When is too soon?  When is too late?

As with most things parenting, we determined you can never start too early.  :)  

Our Middle School kids are doing their yearly mission trip this week.  There is no grand trip across, or out of, the country.  Our kids are preparing the grounds of an area where Missionaries come to rest between travels. They are working in a local food bank.  They are doing work which they will see the results of in their own community.  Awesome. :) 

Husband is with them.  We decided since I am 2 weeks away from birthing Little Squirt that maybe I shouldn't be shoveling dirt, digging ditches and hauling metal fencing, so I'm visiting them and taking photos.  :)  Although, all that manual labor could through me into a welcome labor.  But them husband would miss the rest of the trip.  And that would be sad.  I digress...

Sesame and I visited yesterday morning.  On the way over, I explained that we were visiting the kids and we would be helping.  "I wanna diiiiiiiiiiig!"  She shouted from the backseat.  I sighed to myself thinking, she totally doesn't understand in her little 2/5 year old mind what's going on.  She is totally going to be unhelp.

No.  She jumped right in.  New shoes dirty and grimy.  Her little Elmo shovel in hand, placing tiny bits of dirt into wheelbarrows.  Little Sesame grunts echoed around the open field as she tried so desperately to move the wheelbarrow.  It rocked.  :)  Afterward, on the way to Pappy and Yia Yia's, I asked her what she thought.  She replied, "I like ta help the people."  "I know, aren't the kids cool!" thinking she meant the middle school kids. "No, Momma!  You tell me dah fish-uhn-rees (missionaries) we helped." I paused.  "Yes, Sesame, we helped the missionaries so they can go tell people about Jesus."  "I like Jesus," she said, "An i cream (ice cream) We have i cream?"  

While she doesn't totally understand, something got through.  :)  At least Jesus came before the ice cream.

We brought our own Elmo tools to help with.

 
She jumped right in without hesitation - but what kid doesn't want to dig in the dirt and help with wheelbarrows!  Come on!  :)

 
Takin' a break after an entire hour of work!  Whoa baby!  :)  She even got to drink kool-aid out of a big girl cup!  Look out world!  :)

Zoo.

A) I love surprises.  No, really.  I LOVE surprises.  :)  Today I received one of the best when husband randomly took a day off.  Yay!  :)  Best.  Day.  Ever.  :)

B) We went to the zoo last week with Yia Yia.  Sooooooooo fun.  :)  While I think every school in town was there on a field trip, we still had a fantastical time!  :)

So...does anyone notice a similarity between my Momma and me?  yeah...We just look a bit alike.  :)

 

Good times in the Safari part of the zoo.  Except the warthog.  He was gross.  Even Sesame thought he was ugly.  Poor guy.

 We made a quick trip to look at the butterflies...but there were no butterflies, only orchids.

This is Sesame's new thing - compliments of mimicking Momma.  She puts her hands up like this and says either, "I'll be right back" or "Wait, stop right there."  :)  I love my little meme.

On the way home we stopped by Nonnie and Pawpaw's (my grandparents).  Sesame and Pawpaw watched a firetruck and fed the squirrels.

Nice, relaxing day.  :)

Preparation

I have never been good at preparing.  Perhaps this is one of the numerous reasons I married a card carrying member of the Eagle Scouts.  :)  Planning, at least for me, is generally done internally.  I create check lists, visualize scenarios and then promptly file them away for when I need them.  Did I mention I am queen of procrastination too?  :)

Last night husband and I made a run to the labor and delivery floor.  Everything is totally fine, we were just being cautious.  I am convinced the purpose of the trip was to reveal our total and complete lack of preparation for Baby Squirt.  Up until now we have casually talked about "Oh, we should do this" or  "Maybe we should pack a bag now."  Last night, en route to the hospital, we realized the infant car seat resided in a trash bag next to the Christmas decor in our attic.  At our home.  Still in storage from a year ago.  Awesome.

We also realized we haven't taken the time to prepare our home to grow.  I know that sounds odd.  My first reaction to my own thought is, "Well it's a little late now!" but honestly, adding to a family takes some preparation.  We've been talking to Sesame about Squirt, but haven't done as much discussing amongst the two of us.

I thought of the gospels.  John the Baptist's sole job being to prepare a way for Christ.  "And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God..." (Luke 1:76-78) and "You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ " (John 3:28)  How cool.  How awesome that my Lord and Savior would see preparation so important to the human experience that he would send a single person, filled with the Holy Spirit, to clear the way for Christ to reveal Himself.


Now, I'm not saying that this is on the same level as our preparation for Squirt.  Goodness gracious no.  I'm just recognizing how important preparation is to humanity.  This isn't the only place we see God specifically taking time and making effort to prepare His people for an event.  We see it in Matthew 26:17-30 with the preparation for the Passover, which, come to find, is really a time of Christ preparing his disciples for His physical departure from them.  We see it in the Old Testament numerous times in preparation for battle (Joshua), to re-build the temple (Ezra), to prepare for a nation to be born and show the light of Christ (Genesis) and a call to followers to Prepare for the Lord by removing obstacles from their paths. (Isaiah)  


The Lord knows our nature.  He created it.  Established it.  He even ordains the anointed human soul when unblemished by sin.  There is a need, a desire, to be prepared in all of us; even if we don't always feel that small to-do list in the back of our minds.  When that need is unmet, worry and anxiety set in and preside which is something we are not called to act upon (Philippians 4:6).  The kinds of preparation we see in the Bible are eternal.  They all work/worked together to prepare for the final coming of the King.


Now, like I said, I know our preparation for Squirt is not on a level playing field with Christ's return.  I mean, hello!  But, for whatever reason, the Lord has layed these two ideas on my heart in tandem.  Squirt will be arriving (hopefully not for 4-5 more weeks) and will be tiny, new and helpless.  As the Momma and Daddy it's our job to care for this completely dependent life.  It's our job to mold this tiny personality.  The first step in this process is to be models for Christ.  How can we present Christ to our infant if we are worried?  If we are anxious?  If we are unprepared?  I'm not saying we need to go all Mom-zilla with five thousand plans,etc. but having the car seat ready and bag packed, might be a good idea.  :)  Christ didn't just show up in the world, He let people know what was coming and even how to prepare for Him.


Maybe it's time we made a list to be a bit more prepared.

Stickers.

Sesame is very into helping these days.  I pretty love it.  No matter what we're doing at home she is so eager to help.  In an effort to encourage this behavior, we have made every possible attempt to find little jobs for her around the house.  She loves laundry (we'll see when she hits age 13) and, as of late, tools.  She also finds paying bills hilarious.  No.  Really.  She laughs when I say, "Mommy is paying bills."  I have yet to discover why it's so funny, as it's one of my most abhorred household chores.  If only I could trust her to write the checks for me.  :)  

Anyway, one of the "bill tasks" she's been helping with is placing the return address stickers and stamps on the envelopes; because, really, who cares if they are all catty-whompus on the envelope?!  :)  We've also been using a sticker chart to move along the potty training.  So, stickers are pretty popular around these parts.

One day, after laughter filled bill paying, Momma failed to put the stamps in their home.  Which is out of reach of said small sticker-loving hands.  I returned from the mailbox to find this:

I can't say I blamer her.  I heart the liberty bell too.  If those stamps weren't worth almost 50 cents a piece, I'd wall paper a room with them. (Please do note the wall paper sarcasm - While the art would match my mauve counter tops and blue-gray toilets, I do not want them on my walls.) Anyhow, she quickly learned that the were "special stickers" as Mommy said.  "These stickers only go on mail."  "An bills" Sesame said. "Yes, exactly.  That's how the mailman knows he can take them."  She looked at me, grinned and giggled saying, "Da mail man likes bills toooooooo."  I have no idea where she comes up with this stuff.  :)  But she sure does make paying bills and using stamps a ton more fun!  :)

Remember when trophies were cool...

Well, I do.  I also remember not having many of them because, I don't have an athletic bone in my body.  I did, however, receive a trophy in late high school for a Speech Team, dynamic duo performance.  5th place baby.  Oh yeah.

So.  Trophies.  Didn't have many as a kid - but today - or rather a few days ago - I was gifted the equivalent of a blogging trophy!  YAY! [cue much rejoicing]  Allie, from Guten Strudel, which is a most fantabulous and  hilarious blog you should all be reading, tagged me for the Stylish Blogger Award.  I feel so loved.  :)  As a thank you, I am going to play along with the rules.

The Rules:

Uno. Link back and thank the person [Thank you Allison!!!]  who gave you the award. [check-done]

B. Share 7 things about yourself.

3.14 Award 5 recently discovered blogs.

Lastly. Contact them and tell them about their award.

On to "B" then, shall we.  :)

1.  I am a piler.  Like, the tv show Hoarders kind of piler.  No, really.  I have trouble parting with items that might some day, at some point, come in handy.  I have two boxes of empty, glass baby food jars in boxes, in the attic.  Why?  Because some day I might have a cool project that will necessitate them.  When husband says, "Hey where's the water bill?" I generally respond with, "It's in the second pile to the left of the dresser, halfway down, under the yellow folder."  Now, it may seem unorganized, but, darn it all, the water bill is right where I tell him.  If I organize the piles, everything falls apart and I can't find anything.  Thus, I will continue to hoard and pile.  :)  Sorry family.  :)

2.  I enjoy changing my hair style frequently--much to the chagrin of my husband.  :)  Here, let's look at the past 4 years:

Aw... Wedding... Skinny... Looooooong hair = husband's fav.

This is how I surprised husband when picking him up from work after 2 months of marriage.  SURPRISE!  I cut all my hair off.

He was surprised.
He was not elated.

I, however, think this is one of my all time favorite hair cuts.  :)

If I could rotate this for you, I would, but I'm lazy, so I'm leaving it.  :)

This is the "in-between" stage.

Here we are back to looong locks again.  [sigh] Ah.  I do like very long hairs.

 

Then, this cut came to us this year.  ADORE.  I'm sporting a longer version now, because I'm growing it out again!  Shock.  Dismay.  :)  There were a couple other styles between Sesame age of 0 and 18 months - but photos of myself stopped occurring during those years.  I was like a ninja.  Never seen, but always there.  :)

3.  I am a C.  I am a C-H.  I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N.  :)  I love the Lord.  Like, hard core, Praise Jesus, love the Lord.  Husband and I are trying to live a life that glorifies Him daily.  It ain't easy, but we do our best.  We were both blessed to be raised in strong Christian homes that taught us what it means to be a follower and what Ephesians 2:8, 9 really mean.  I am beyond grateful that our parents laid a foundation in us that is unmoving--and hope we can instill that same love of Christ in Sesame and Squirt. [Stops, wipes tear] Moving on...

4.  I cannot stand: slow drivers in the left lane, ants in or out of my house (now I'm itchy) or people who talk/text on their cell phone in line at any store.  I mean, really, what is so important that you can't put down your phone for 5 minutes to check out.  Honestly.

5.  I randomly start singing and dancing at various points during the day.  Like, no-one's-watching-sing-at-the-top-of-my-lungs kind of singing.  Generally oldies or Broadway.  What is the most awesome part of this???  My daughter has decided it's cool and now joins in.  :)  I heart her.

6. I am a ginormously huge pregnant woman.  I increased to a rather large size whilst pregnant with Sesame:

Approximately 29 weeks with Sesame.

And that trend seems to have only been magnified during my pregnancy with Squirt:

Yeah...this is only 27 weeks with Squirt.

It's all good though.  I'm a fan of birthing large, robust children that I don't feel I can break.  At our 24 week ultrasound, Squirt was weighing in at an estimated 2 pounds.  I might give birth to a whale.

7. I heart:  sewing, ironing (it's true...I would iron my pillow cases if I still had the time), pedicures, a large glass of ice water with lime, cinnamon toast, blogging (had one since like 2004...on xanga...it still exists...even though I don't write on it...and no, I'm not linking to it.) digging in freshly tilled dirt, spinning til I'm dizzy, Thanksgiving and Sci Fi.  (That last one is thanks to Husband dearest!)  :)

Okay...now to pass on the love.  If you aren't reading these, you so should be.  :)

1. Naptime in Naptown or Heart Gone Walking - both are a fantastically hilarious read by my real life friend, and former college roomie, Katie.
2.  In Sock Monkey Slippers - the food.  Oh.  The food.  Every recipe I have made from her blog has been scrumptious.  Especially the butternut Squash Mac and Cheese.  Oh baby.
3.  Joy's Hope - Julie is so stinkin' funny and real.  I love her blog.  She is awesome at all things crafty and has some wonderous tales of how Christ has worked in her life - through thick and thin.
4. Lots of Scotts - A grand Momma who loves the Lord and recounts how everyday occurrences are teachable moments.
5.  Vintage Dutch Girl - Amanda is just funny.  :)  She has some mad sewing skills and isn't afraid to be down to earth and honest!  Did I mention she's hilarious???

YAY!  I think I'm done!  It only took me like week to actually finish this post!  :)

Beware: We Have A 2 Year Old Amongst Us.

This post is not as menacing as the title leads to believe!  :)  I'm merely here to share a piece of our lives from the past week.  Sesame turned two last Wednesday.  TWO!  I can hardly believe my little girl has gone from this:

to this:

In two years!  Goodness gracious.  She is so much fun!  :)  The Lord has truly blessed our family with Sesame's vivacious personality.  I can not wait to see who she grows into!  :)

We had her 2nd birthday party on the 15th.  A small gathering at our house with family and honorary Aunts and Uncles.  : )  No need for a ginormous celebration at age two - family was overwhelming enough for her!

I saw this awesome rainbow cake on Make-and-Love-It and knew it would be perfect for Sesame.  I gave a talented young lady a call to see if she would help out with the cake and away we went!  Jane (note: she is 12 years old...TWELVE...and an awesome baker!) and I were up until 1 am making this fabulous cake.  We had so much fun and Sesame loved it!

How awesome is that?!  It tasted fabulous too!  : )  We ended up with half the cake left - so we fed it to the Middle School kids at church.  : ) They are so reliable to eat up the sweets we have leftover!  : )

Sesame was in rare form - so excited about the presents she could hardly contain herself.

Related much?  I think so...

Loving her cake.  : )  She is soooooooooo my daughter!

I heart this photo for so many reasons.  First of all, it contains all of my grandparents - a very rare photo op.  :)  Secondly, they are all reading one of the books Sesame received for her birthday.  Remember the "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Little Miss Naughty" books?  My George gifted them to Sesame.  Love.  :)  Yes, well, my awesome grandparents are reading those books.  :)  It makes me smile.  :)

This photo is great because it shows:  The girls I nannied for playing ring-around-the-rosy with my daughter.  Yes, I baby sat for them.  I'm playing my old card here.  Not only do I think of them as sisters, but my daughter ADORES them.  I"m pretty certain, if given the option, she would live with them forever. Afterall, when you build tents and pretend to be in a battle zone taking cover under the kitchen table, how could a 2 year old not love you.  :)

Awesome day.  Awesome food.  Awesome family.  I heart birthdays and can't wait for more memories!  :)