Christmas

I love Christmas! I love putting up the tree (or in my case 3 trees-yes I am slightly obsessive) and as I pull out each ornament from the box and unwrap it from it's safe cocoon of tissue paper I am taken back to where I was when I bought or received the ornament. My mom had given us one with 2 snuggling snow-people on our first Christmas as a married couple when we were still starry eyed newly weds-only having been married a little over 3 months at that point. There is a fragile shell ornament that we bought on our honeymoon in the Bahama's-I remember standing in the street market with the hot sun beating down on us trying to decide on the perfect ornament to hang on our first tree. And of course now there hangs an ornament of a pudgy baby bear sucking on a pacifier and clutching a bottle to signify Evie's first Christmas. I even have an angel ornament from my Grandma dated 1984! I love the glowing lights on the tree, the soft velvet tree skirt, the glisten of the satin ribbons. I could go on and on-and I am still only on part one of why I love Christmas!

I also love presents-not necessarily receiving them although I think no matter how old I get I will always get a bit of a thrill from shaking a present with crisp wrapping paper and shiny bow while trying to guess what might be inside. I love picking out the perfect gift and then selecting the perfect wrapping paper complete with the matching ribbon and tag. And of course I love to coordinate all the presents under the tree because, well, this is me we are talking about and those kind of touches make me feel quite giddy!

I love Christmas music-the old stuff and the newer, re-made songs-I love them all. I love to sing along to them and dance to them (although the singing may be off key and the dancing downright scary) I also love to wrap the above mentioned presents while listening to Christmas music, and although I may act irritated when radio stations and stores play Christmas music before Thanksgiving, deep down I am really thrilled, because if I could get away with it I would probably listen to it all year long.

I love the light displays and every time I pass by a colorfully decorated lawn I am reminded of "The Way of Lights" display and the Precious Moment's Chapel in Carthage, Missouri that my family, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins would go to every year, and although I am quite sure it was the same every year, it always felt like it was the first time I was seeing it.

I love all the food-baking and decorating Christmas cookies, candy canes, hot-chocolate, baked ham-again I could go on and on-no wonder I gain so much over the holidays. But really, it is totally worth it!

I love the classic movies-"It's a wonderful Life", "How the Grinch stole Christmas", "a Christmas Carol" and many more.

I love Christmas! Can you tell? I am telling you, Christmas to me is like catnip to a cat or crack to a drug addict-not trying to promote the use of illicit drugs here people, but seriously I think Christmas has a strange effect on me-I get giddy and silly, I feel like a kid again, I have the best memories of past Christmases and look forward to the future as I pass these traditions down to Evie, and hopefully when she is almost 30 (not that I am that old yet, of course) she will still feel like a kid again-at least for the month of December!

Happy Halloween! (ok so I am a little late)

Let me just say, if I thought Halloween was fun before having a child I was wrong-Halloween with a toddler who is just learning the concept of trick-or -treating, now that is really fun! Last year we dressed Evie up in her flower costume and she was adorable, of course. We took her around the neighborhood in her stroller,but she really had no concept of what was going on or what we were doing. This year we dressed her up as a ballerina. Her grandma sewed her the most beautiful little costume, and we completed the look with some "ballet slippers" from target (rubber bottom sock/shoes that were made to look like ballet slippers)

Friday she took part in her Halloween party at daycare. Her teachers loved her costume and were quite impressed with grandma's sewing skills and of course my ability to shop for cute shoes. The classes took turns trick-or-treating and passing out treats-and yes I was the dorky mom that brought raisins and goldfish crackers for the kids-but at least she won't know I am the dorky mom for another few years. And although the kids were not allowed to eat their treats until they went home-she still learned a very "bad" word that day-candy! I did have to "steal" her for a bit to show her off in her costume to my co-workers (one of the many advantages to having a daycare onsite) And even the sternest doctor that I work for admitted that she was pretty darn cute! (that was after he teased me about not working and instead playing with Evie all day) That evening Evie had a blast carrying her treat bag around the house and shaking it it to hear the candy rattle around. I made the mistake of giving her the fruit snacks out of her bag as an after dinner treat because then she realized all the treats in her bag were edible and of course she must eat them. She brought me a bag of skittles and pleaded "candy! eat! candy! eat!" and when I told her no she threw herself to the ground and cried her baby blues out until she got distracted by the TV-then all was well. I have to admit her tantrum was kind of funny but I did manage to keep my stern mom face on the entire time. Saturday we went to a fall party/bonfire at Aunt Lea and Uncle Dan's house and Evie had a blast playing with her cousins and friends and gathering pine cones from their huge yard. She even attempted "bobbing" for corn. (corn hung from strings on a clothesline, and you try to pull the corn off using only your mouth) when she saw the older kids try she thought it was hilarious and took a turn for herself. She liked the bonfire-a little too much and probably would have ran right into it if we had let her. She would only sit still on Papa's lap and they had fun singing along to the music that was playing. I think she also liked the marshmallows that Papa kept sneaking her. Sunday she woke up with watery eyes and a runny nose-she looked kind of pitiful so we took it easy and snuggled on the living room floor with blankets, pillows and a veggie tale movie. After a 3 hour nap and some nasal spray she was ready to go-trick-or-treating that is. Aunt Erica came over to take some pictures of the little ballerina and made the mistake of telling Evie to "say cheese" to which Evie responded by running into the kitchen, pounding on the fridge and demanding "cheese! cheese!" so we had to give her some cheese since aunt Erica "offered" it. After getting her picture taken by mom, grandma and Erica we were ready for the main event. We loaded her up in her wagon, and we were off, but we quickly discovered that little miss independent wanted to walk on her own, and that is what she did. She was not shy at all! She waked right up and declared "tee to teat" (trick or treat) and with some prompting from mommy she would pick her candy, and give a grin and a "tank too" (thank you) and a quick "bye bye" before heading off to the next house. And she would not just walk to the next house, but rather run down the sidewalk declaring "go go go" Her pure excitement over such a small thing as getting candy was so much fun to watch. She was so proud of herself for being a "big girl" and picking out her own candy. I think her mama was beaming with as much pride as she watched her baby turn into a "big girl." I think I laughed almost the entire time just watching her in amazement-I am still not sure who had more fun. As the evening wore on our little miss began to get tired and a wee bit cranky and had an all out meltdown when I tried to help her with her candy bag-she had a death grip on that thing! So, we headed home and off to bed she went. And the big kids (Erica, Dennis and myself) spent the rest of the evening parked in front of the bonfire sipping apple cider, eating chili and chatting with neighbors. It was a perfect end to the day!

I Surrender

1. All to Jesus I surrender;
   All to Him I freely give;
   I will ever love and trust Him,
   In His presence daily live.
   • Refrain:
     I surrender all,
     I surrender all;
     All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
     I surrender all.
2. All to Jesus I surrender;
   Humbly at His feet I bow,
   Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
   Take me, Jesus, take me now.
3. All to Jesus I surrender;
   Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
   Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
   Truly know that Thou art mine.
4. All to Jesus I surrender;
   Lord, I give myself to Thee;
   Fill me with Thy love and power;
   Let Thy blessing fall on me.
5. All to Jesus I surrender;
   Now I feel the sacred flame.
   Oh, the joy of full salvation!
   Glory, glory, to His Name!
6. I woke up this morning with these lyrics going through my head. It is an old hymn-not a new upbeat worship song that I usually sing but one I have known since I was very little. And it really has made me think. What does it mean to truly surrender? So, as I often do I looked it up and it's meaning is powerful: To yield to the possession or power of another; to give up oneself; to give up, abandon or relinquish. So when I say I surrender to Jesus I am literally giving up myself, and letting him take control. This can be a terrifying thought for a control freak like me, but sometimes even control freaks need to let go, and let me tell you, letting it go into Jesus' hands is the best place to put something when you give up control.

facebook fast

Lately I have realized that I am spending too much time on facebook-reading up on what "sally" ate for dinner or what "jane" thinks about a tv show-when really? what does it matter? Now I know "sally" eating a cheeseburger or "jane" watching one tree hill are not bad things, they don't bother me but then there are the posts that cause drama. And maybe the poster did not intend to cause drama-so why do things irritate me soo much? Why do I feel as though their opinions are an open attack on me and my lifestyle? I am who I am and I do what I do and I need to not worry about how other people feel about that. The One that I should be concerned about pleasing probably would not be pleased by my gossiping and stressing about what is said on facebook. Philippians 4:8 says: Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. Now I realize many people post good things on facebook-getting a new job, picture of a new baby, etc. and that is why I will be back on facebook again, but for right now I need to step away from the negative things and focus on good things. I need to learn to find my acceptance in Christ alone-because he is the one that created me to be who I am. He knows my heart. He is the one that decides what is right and wrong. He is the One I am living for. So for now I am taking a fast from facebook.

a day with my Evie bear

S0 this morning my little Evie bear decided to wake up at 5:45 am-although she did talk to her stuffed bear and glow-worm for about 30 minutes and then she got irritated and wanted her mama and her milk, so alas, I got up and snuggled my girl and we looked at books while she drank milk from her sippy-cup. After we got ready for the day daddy took us girls out for breakfast at IHOP-one of our favorite places. And Evie actually ate more food then what she threw/dropped on the ground-amazing! Once we were done with breakfast daddy had to leave to go help "papa" chop some trees down ('cuz that's what country folks do :-) So my little lady and I went to another favorite place-Target! We picked up a few household items along with some cute fall clothes for my girl. Next stop was the park. I packed up a picnic lunch, a blanket (actually a beach towel) some hand sanitizer (essential when playing at the park with a toddler) after loading our items and Evie into the stroller-we were off! We walked (or rather I walked) to St. Ferdinand Park and Evie fell fast asleep in the stroller-another amazing thing since I think the last time she fell asleep in the stroller was when she was like 6 months old-but I guess when you wake up at 5:45 am you are ready for a snooze by 10:30 am!

We got the park and Evie became wide awake when she saw the playground-she climbed up and down, slid down the slide, climbed up the slide and then when all that got old she played in the sand from the near by sand volleyball court.

All that playing made mommy and Evie hungry so we stopped to eat our picnic lunch of cheese, crackers, ham, turkey, grapes, blueberries, milk (her) and of course a dr. pepper (me) And a third amazing feat happened-she actually sat on the blanket and ate for a solid 5 minutes before getting up to run around! So, we took our leftover crackers and fed the ducks in the pond and Evie declared "duck duck duck" like a million times but at least they really were ducks (sometimes she calls any small animal a duck.)

After the duck pond mommy was getting worn out from trying to keep Evie from jumping into the pond with the ducks so we decided (err I decided) that it was time to head home. And let me tell you walking to the park while pushing a 23 lb toddler and 10 lbs of our crap (while wearing jeans and flip flops) sounded like a great idea at 10:30 am but by 12:30 pm my feet ached, and I had sweat pouring down my face-I was a hot mess! Upon arriving home I announced it was nap time-Evie disagreed and proceeded to babble and whine and talk to her stuffed bear and glow worm and refuse to sleep-but I was not about to give up and she finally gave in and went to sleep and so did I and let me tell you, we both felt 100 times better after our nap, when she woke up we snuggled on the couch and watched cartoons until we were both fully awake. I love those few times she actually will hold still long enough to snuggle with me. After snack, and playing with some little people for a while we went to Old Time Pottery and purchased some new fall decor-including a scarecrow for Evie. I have had 2 scarecrows-a man and a women sitting on the porch for fall for several years and last year got away from me and I never bought one to represent our little girl. So now our scarecrow family is complete.

After stopping by aunt Jessi's house for a quick visit we went home for dinner, bath, and some more snuggle time and book reading. Once Evie went to dreamland I got out my fall decor and decorated the porch and living room. Every year I say that I don't have time to decorate for fall and I am not going to do it but I always end up decorating for fall because I love this season so much and it does not feel like fall unless I have my fall colors and pumpkins out! So now I sit here taking in the scent of pumpkin spice candles and reflecting on my day with my sweet girl. I love her soo much and I love days when we get to spend time with each other-just her and I, and I hope that she enjoys them just as much as I do.

weekend in the country

This weekend we traveled to Carthage Missouri to get together with family and celebrate grandma Compton's birthday. After loading the truck with all the essentials: go-cart, potato gun and some clothes and a pack-n-play too, we were ready to head out. We left Friday evening so that Evie would sleep for the entire trip-which she did. Only problem- mommy and daddy were getting pretty close to sleeping too. That last hour I made Dennis constantly talk to me so that I would know he was awake. We got the the hotel and of course Evie woke up and was ready to play. The child did NOT want to sleep and we DID want to sleep, so I ended up laying on the floor next to the pack and play-which totally grossed me out since it is a hotel and who knows who was in the room before us. After standing in the crib and staring down at me for about 20 minutes Evie finally decided to give in and go to sleep. At some point I dozed off and had a nightmare that involved precious moments dolls chasing me like Chuckie did in those horror films. (we were staying at the precious moment's hotel because the precious moment's chapel is about the only tourist attraction in Carthage and those dolls are kinda freaky looking especially in a picture above your bed at 2 am!)

The next morning we went over to G-ma's house (that is what she is called because she is a cool grandma) Evie loved walking around their huge yard and I loved watching her play in that same yard that I spent so much time playing in with my cousins when I was a kid. We then headed to Joplin and picked up a few things (like potatoes for the potato gun of course) and the toddler crib rails from babies-r-us that I had a heck of a time tracking down. Evie napped in the car while Dennis and I took turns going into stores. We then headed to Uncle Jeff and Aunt Tabby's house and Evie had even more open fields to roam. She even got to see a horse and then proceeded to neigh like a horse for at least 15 minutes afterwards! The adults had fun riding Dennis' go-cart-which Dennis tried to kill me on by the way! We played croquet, ladder ball, and corn-hole because when you are in southern Missouri that is what you do (play yard games that is) We did not, however have washers which would have completed our redneck family reunion. We enjoyed a delicious meal, and a tasty cake to celebrate G-ma's B-day! After dinner it was time for bat ball which is played with regular bats and one of those big rubbery gym class balls. You would think playing with a large ball would help my odds at hitting it-it did not. I actually had to have G-pa (heis cool too) pinch hit for me-how sad is that-I have to have an 80 year old man hit for me! I would like to think of it more like I was his pinch runner but we all know the truth-Elisha sucks at sports! Oh well if someone would have collapsed on the field who do you think they would have ran to-that's right nurse Elisha! I am glad that no one collapsed-unless you count uncle Jerry sliding into base-it looked more like he threw himself to the ground- I think there was a small earthquake afterward because Uncle Jerry is not a small guy. After bat ball the cousins sat on the porch exchanging funny you tube videos on each others i-phones (except for me because I still have my Palm Treo until the end of this month-boo hoo) because no matter how country our family reunions are you can not take technology away from a group of 20's-30's year olds-Even though G-pa tried by threatening to turn off the wireless Internet.

The next morning started with church, which of course had to be the time Evie decided to repeat the word"duck" really loudly. Needless to say she did not last long in service so her and I explored the lobby until it was over. Next we went over to G-ma and G-pa's house for more yard games, and go cart riding. Later that day the guys (and Amy) broke out their guns. We took turns shooting at clay pigeons and targets with an assortment of shot guns and handguns. Evie had to go inside with her grandma at that point since guns do not scare her, in fact she would have ran right out into the range had we let her. After the regular guns got old we broke out the potato gun and shot at the billboard that sits on G-ma's property. Because what is a family reunion without at least one illegal activity. The cousin's also took a trip to the great Ozarkland which sounds like a really awesome place and I swear it was when we were like nine yrs old unfortunately Ozarkland has probably not been updated since I was nine years old and 20 years has definitely taken it's toll on the place! But I did however, find some adorable pink moccasins for Evie because every little girl needs a pair of pink moccasins! Monday before we left for home we stopped back in to G-ma's house and found that my great Uncle that lives next door had something waiting for Evie-a little red wagon that has been sitting Un-used at his house for many years. And let me tell you, that girl loves her wagon-although her and daddy tried to give mommy a heart attack when they would go flying across the yard-Evie bouncing all the way! The trip home was pretty uneventful other than some traffic and rude people at the DQ in Rolla. Evie did awesome-she slept the first half of the trip and played with toys and chattered away in her car seat the second half of the trip. We had a great weekend and enjoyed seeing family and I may be a little biased but I think we have the best family reunions! Can't wait to do it again next year!

weary

When sickness, stress and trials come we become weary-emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually.But (because there is always a but) God says (In Matthew 11:28) "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest" I love that God who is the creator of this complex world can make things so simple for us to understand and follow-we just have to come to him. He does not say that we have to jump up 3 times, spin in a circle counterclockwise 8 times and say the alphabet backwards while rubbing our belly and patting our head. No, he makes it easy on us we just have to come. So right now Father, I come to you and ask for your rest. I place my burdens on you and ask you to turn my mourning into gladness and my sorrow into joy (Jer 31:13)