The Sickness

Our house is diseased..

Ok, that was dramatic..

But it is.

All 3 of the children

are sick..

and on top of their sickness..

They all had pink eye too.

And then I got it too.

Diseased I tell you.

8 eyeball,

that need a drop in each,

4 times a day..

too much for this horrible math person to figure out..

It's a lot.

The first time we did Aria's eye drops..

She screamed like crazy..

Seriously,
screaming,
yelling "STOP HURTING ME"
awesome.
I was traumatized more than her..
Then a few hours later,
"Aria, it's bedtime"
"Mommy, don't forget my eye drops."
Really?
Could she actually be sit still this time?
Not scream?

Nope,
she screamed still..
and adding flailing around like a dying fish to her repertoire.
I love that girl,
spunk and a half.
(Now after a few days she let's me put eye drops in like it is her job)

Since the two oldest are feeling better,
and because they have be confined to a house for a week,
we have brought in their tricycles for them to ride.
Yes, it's just as bad of an idea as it sounds.

We also have let them play video games and watch tv,
because that is the only good thing about being sick,
But now we are detoxing them and trying to get them back into a normal schedule,
Yes, it's just as bad of an idea as it sounds.

Slowly we are getting back to normal.
I am thankful I get to stay home with them,
Because sickness, craziness, tantrums and all..
I love those kids.

(side-note: I think Ari is ready to get back to normal too, she took one look at my face today and said "Mommy, let's do makeup." Honesty is her policy.)

When Dinosaurs attack...

NYC is a dangerous place..

Here you can see is being attacked by a dinosaur...

If only we knew that Spider-man was on his way

and there was nothing to fear..

side-note:

my son is not quite as good of an actor as it may seem..

The dinosaur started to roar..

as we were taking this picture..

He really was terrified.

Labels

David was an Adulterer.

a coward.

Rahab a Prostitute.

a liar.

Paul a Persecutor

a murderer.

These are the labels we would use.

These are the things we would say.

But God says

David

Man after my own heart.

Rahab

In the Savior's lineage.

Paul 

Forgiven.

They were not 

who the labels

 said they were.

And neither are you.

broken

weak

liar

adulterer

thief

addict

Those might be the labels given to you.

God gives you another

One who He loves.

Choose to hear the truth

and ignore the labels.

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

2 Corinthians 5:17

Blessed

I am blessed..

Sometimes when a need is met..

an unexpected check.

a generous gift.

an answered prayer..

Blessed.

In those moments..

It's easy to praise God.

Say..

"Isn't He amazing?"

To share how much I love Him.

How blessed I am because of His provision.

But,

Something has been stirring at my heart lately.

What if I didn't have those blessings..

Would I still

Say..

"Isn't He amazing?"

Share how much I love Him..

Rejoice that I am blessed just to be His.

Is my love for God..

Or His blessings?

Is my awe directed towards Him..

Or my comfort..

Is just being His enough..

Or is it dependent on what He can do for me?

My prayer is that my love will continue to grow..

That it will be so rooted in Him..

that no matter what the circumstances..

the trials..

I will still say

"Isn't He amazing?"

I am blessed.

Secret Mission

Can I tell you something?

I hate pinterest.

Ok, just kidding,

I love it like every one else.

I love the inspiration..

the creativity...

but the problem is..

you can have all the creativity and inspiration..

in the world..

but when you have the crafting ability...

of.

I don't know,

a 3 legged dog

because yes a 4 legged dog has better crafting skills than me.

You end up with frustration...

I would look at all those pretty things..

and do just that..

Look.

I had wonderful ideas for advent activities..

but never actually did them..

because I knew mine would never be that pretty or unique..

So you know what I did?

Around the 12th day before Christmas..

I gave up..

I gave up the unrealistic expectations..

and did something totally our family.

I found a manila envelope..

put a sticky note on it..

so classy..

with a note

TOP SECRET FOR AGENT PEANUT BUTTER, JELLY AND NUTELLA.

and inside I put a plain piece of white paper,

with a hastily and poorly written..

note..

Telling the kids of a secret mission..

and we went on our way

looking at Christmas lights

getting hot chocolate..

It wasn't well constructed..

But the memories were.

The looks on my kids faces

each time they found the envelope..

Each time we had a mission..

Each time we spent that precious time together.

were amazing.

So what have I learned

Pinterest is evil.

Ok , just kidding.

Inspiration is wonderful

But

Don't get so caught up with the presentation

that you miss the present.

Still Thankful.. still sarcastic

So..

about writing something I was thankful for 

everyday in November.

Yep.

I was pretty awesome at that.

You know something else

I am awesome at?

Taking self timer pictures.

Yep.

Well the season of Thankfulness continues..

And I am thankful for my kids.

They are the funniest,sweetest, wittiest children ever..

God uses them in such an amazing way..

to teach me about

compassion..

love..

forgiveness..

I am blessed to be a Mom..

and I am beyond blessed to be their Mom.

And..

they are lucky we don't do the whole

naughty or nice thing

because this happened

this week

 That's the stuffing from my couch cushions..

in case you were wondering.

yep,

 not so awesome.

I love Fridays...

Friday's

Are Court's day off..

we have family day.

I love Fridays.

I am Thankful that we get to spend time together as a family..

I am thankful for a husband who makes it a priority.

Every Friday is awesome..

But one Friday in particular was

EPIC..

and I don't use that word lightly.

Actually,

I do use that word lightly,

in fact,

I have used it today alone..

to describe

breakfast,

a song

and a dirty diaper.

We went apple picking..

to the beach for pizza..

to another beach

to walk around..

to the Library..

and then to small group..

Pretty Legendary..

another word I don't use lightly

(yes, I do)

I am so thankful for this awesome family of mine.

and Friday family fun days.

(we don't really call it that)

(yes, we do)