Lily

Eli

Merry Christmas!

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born,

a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Excited to celebrate Christmas tomorrow!  Immanuel - God.  With.  Us. - How can it be?!  Gabriel said "...nothing will be impossible with God" (Luke 1:37).  In my life I want to declare with Mary, "Behold, I am a servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38) until he comes again.  Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!

Heard around our house

K: Mommy, could you hold me?

Me: In just a moment, Little Love.{She'd prefer a world where I was constantly holding her. Especially days like today when she has a fever.}

K: (In her best disappointed voice) Mommy, you know better than that.

**********

K singing in the bathtub: Fankful!  Fankful! Fankful for Joseph and Mary and Jesus!

Earning his keep

Thanks, Freebie, for cleaning up after Kaylee.  You did owe me one after chewing threw your harness yesterday.

Image boost

We have a Toyota Sienna (a 2000, not one of these fancy new ones). Mini vans have a dorky reputation. While they are not the most stylish vehicles on the road, we have found ours really works well for transporting multiple small people. We saw this video a while back and laughed until we cried. Some friends of ours also sport a vintage Sienna, and Jon was looking this video up again to send them...along with a message for that dad claiming this video might help boost his image. We laughed all over again.

Pretend play

Kaylee just made pretend timer beeping sounds and sat down in a chair.  When Lily asked what she was doing, Kaylee responded she was pretending to be in trouble.  Whatever works for you, baby.

A couple more from OCTOBER

This is ridiculous.  These are so old!

We love Edwin Warner Nature Center and Park!!!

Maybe I'll add November tomorrow.  It was a really busy month of moving and having Grandpa and Grandma Howe visit...don't think I have many pictures.  Perhaps by the new year I will get December pictures done.  I.Will.Catch.Up. :)

Halloween {with 1 week 'til Christmas}

Hooray!  I discovered the camera cord today completely by accident...it was sneaking out from under Lily and Eli's closet door.  Hmmm.  Not sure I believe it got there all by itself.  I don't care how it got there. I am just glad to have finally found it!

Our ballerina (who drank chocolate milk), cowboy, and Laura Ingalls Wilder

Jason Gray - I Am New

Jason Gray is another artist we saw at the Ryman. If you ever listen to Christian radio you have probably heard (a million times) his song More Like Falling In Love. Here is one he sang last night that I hadn't heard yet (I really like the part that starts about 2:56)...

Double Date Night

First I must thank Papa, Nana, Nat & Madie for taking care of our monkeys last night. : ) The kids always love to be at your house!

Jon and I got to go on an awesome double date with some friends from church. We had a delicious dinner at Maggianos then headed to The Ryman for the Andrew Peterson Behold The Lamb of God concert. The first part of the concert was a songwriters in the round performance featuring too many talented people to list them all. I was most excited to hear people from Caedmon's Call and Union Station. You can click the YouTube video below to hear one of the songs Andrew Peterson performed (I don't know how to add more videos to this post - will have to do more separately).

After intermission was the incredible performance of the Behold The Lamb album which I very highly recommend. It is different than any other Christmas album I have ever heard. I was a little slow to warm up to it, but now it is a family favorite. It was especially fun to see Ben Shive, a friend from church and one of Lily's Sunday school teachers, play at least 4 different instruments and sing back up vocals.

We've already decided this needs to be a Christmastime date tradition!

Love them!

...especially this clean and this close to bedtime ;-)

Clean Kaylee B.

Lily at the cabin

Caught a quick shot of lily before she dashed in from the cold. Time for hot chocolate!

Trip

We are on our way to Mimi and Pops' (my grandparents) house and then on to the cabin DinDin (my other grandfather) made.

My phone was on its death bed, so Jon got me a new one.  It's all fancy and I can send photos right to Blogger from it and all kinds of other fun stuff that I have no idea how to do!

Might be some weird posts while I try to figure this out :)

Fun at the cabin

Parade

Cold kids warming up in the Middleton Dollar General after enjoying the town parade.

More butter details

A couple of emails have made me realize I should add a few more notes about the amazing cinnamon honey butter....
- It can be refrigerated, but does not have to be.
- I can't say exactly how much the recipe I linked to yields - I made a much larger batch.  Here are the measurements (and a description of what I bought in case that helps you go shopping) I used:

* 4 cups softened butter (2 of the big blocks of cheap butter - equivalent to 8 sticks of butter)
* 4 cups powdered sugar (one 2lb bag will leave you with a little extra sugar)
* 4 cups honey (I got 2 bottles of the largest honey available at our store - 2lb 8oz each.  I hardly used the second bottle, but one was not quite enough).
* 4 tsp cinnamon
* two dozen 4 oz canning jars (I didn't fill these to the rim, but they were really full.  I bought the last 2 boxes of the jars the store had...on the lookout for more....you'd be surprised how quickly you find homes for these cute little jars of butter!)

Tasty little gift

If you are looking for a tasty gift to give teachers, neighbors, hosts, etc. cinnamon honey butter might be just the thing.  We gave a small jar of it with the lid decorated in some Christmas fabric to the kids' Sunday school teachers last year.  It was a huge hit, so I am repeating that gift this year to their new teachers.  Make sure you make a little extra for your family to eat too - it's wonderful!  Click here for the recipe.

Hear Around Our House

Ever had a perfectly fine day melt down in a matter of moments?  Thankfully, we recovered quickly today, but here is a glimpse of what you could see and hear at my house earlier...Lily was in the backyard doing time running laps.  If you've just got too much energy to practice self-control then I will be glad to help you burn some of it off.  Eli and Kaylee were told to clean up the 47 books they'd taken off the shelf.  As they both came into the room to tackle the book mess and saw me, Eli shouted, "AHHHH! The Abominable Snowman!!!"  It's monster, Buddy, but I knew what you meant. ;o)
Oh, my little Rudolph and Clarice, I love you so much that I cannot be in the business of trying to be your friend Hermie.  I hope that one day you (and your spouses) will call me friend because of days like today when you thought I was abominable for asking you to be respectful and clean up after yourselves. :)

Kitchen door

Well, I've yet to find the cord that connects our camera to the computer (didn't that happen last time we moved?!?), so I haven't been able to load up any new pictures of the kiddos lately.  Here is a cell phone shot of the door that is between the kitchen and our bedroom.  There was no door there when we moved in.  Is it just me, or is it really weird to not have a bedroom door?  I suppose since Jon saw the previous owner pick up cat poop from the floor with her hand, I shouldn't expect normal.  Anyway, this old door was in our attic.  It was a swinging door that used to go from the kitchen into the dining room we think before a wall was knocked down.  Jon found some vintage hardware at the Habitat for Humanity that matches the rest of our doors, and had a guy come do the surprisingly difficult job of installing the hardware and hanging it.  Last night, Jon painted the mint green door white and the inset portions with magnetic and chalkboard paint - thank you, honey!!!  This will be so perfect for lists, notes, and the kids to play on.  I am feeling rather impatient and don't really want to wait the 3 days to condition it and 4 more days to write on it.  Since I have already threatened gently asked the kids to NOT TOUCH it, I better listen to my own advice. : )

We are still alive!

We just got connected to the internet last night...more to come... :)

It's Real

Yes.  There is a difference between official and real. :)  Real means I watched Jon help the previous owner load the last of her junk into a van this morning and put the first load of our junk there.

The next post will probably be It's Sinking In.  And, yes, that is also different.  : )

It's Official

We signed all of our papers this afternoon for our new house!  My hand hurts from initialing and signing so many documents.  Not exactly sure if the previous owner has even moved out yet.  The title company was on the other side of town from the house, and Jon had to go back to work, so we didn't go the house.  When Jon drove by earlier in the day, she had not moved out yet.  Hoping she busted a move (haha there was no pun intended) and we aren't having to make phone calls and facing a little awkwardness to get her to leave.  Thanks so much for all of your kindness through phone calls, emails, texts and especially prayers!

Parade :)

We got to walk in the Nashville Veterans' Day Parade today with our Girl Scout Troop. :)  Who knew it would be SO warm on November 11?!  The other Daisies opted to keep their sweatshirts they painted on...Lily was over it.  The girl does not like to be hot (I can't blame her).  She waved her flag and sang her heart out though.  Eli and Kaylee threw candy and waved from the wagon.  What an honor to celebrate our veterans today!

Veterans' Day

There is not a day that passes for me without thoughts of and prayers for our military and their families.  Grateful for a day set aside to remember and honor our service members past and present.  I am proud to call so many veterans and their loved ones my family and friends - THANK YOU and I love you!!!

Puppy Love

Slight delay

We have our final piece of paperwork ready to go for our house - the VA appraiser approval!  Whew, just in time for our closing date (today).

Not so fast!  The owner is now not ready - hasn't packed, hasn't purchased plane tickets for her move.  

This is just making me laugh after stressing out about the time frame, getting a contractor to agree to work a late Saturday night, and having our mortgage guy request that the VA appraiser get it together pronto.  I was amazed at the way things came together so quickly at the end...all to be delayed.  God, you do have a great sense of humor!  Yes, God, we are trusting in you - not a bunch of papers on someone's desk that have been signed.

We intend to close on Friday now.  I'll keep you posted...

So many have been very kind and offered to help us with the move.  We are so grateful!  We haven't yet set up a day for the big push of moving furniture etc.  It will depend on when we end up with the keys and when Jon is able to take off work.  We'll come calling soon!

World Vision Gift Catalog

This came in the mail yesterday.  I fought back tears (and the urge to buy a goat for myself) as I flipped through the pages.  The kids gathered around in favor of giving gifts to the least of these.  You can check out this catalog by clicking here.  Oh the joy of witnessing a 6 year old and  a 4 year old catch a vision of loving others...even at the expense of shortening their own wish lists.

Interview warning

Jon held interviews yesterday at LC.  One lady he interviewed is new to the area and seemed very promising as a hard worker with restaurant experience.  She is of Asian descent, and so he warned her that the area has proven to be a little rough on the employees who are of her ethnicity.  He was giving her the heads up that she's going to have to be a little tough and wear some thick skin.  She replied with something to the effect of, "At least it's not East Nashville.  I've heard bad things about it."  I am not sure how Jon didn't burst out laughing, because I did when he told me that.  Ummm, M'am, you're in East Nashville.

Better not be heard around this house

I just overheard Eli (and then Kaylee in perfect parrot fashion) say, "Mega boring."  What?  Let me tell you, there is plenty to do around here - fun and otherwise.  Don't say that in this house or I will give you something to not be bored with.

Doesn't that make you think of the way your mother would tell you, "I'll give you something to cry about"?!  I do believe I heard that here the other day out of my husband's mouth.    It is never fun when someone is wailing over something ridiculous  - thanks Eli for that one as we were trying to leave for church.  But, something in me sort of loves when Jon is around to witness such an episode.  Hopefully remembrances of these events will keep him from dragging me to the looney bin...or at least he'll be able to diagnose why I went bonkers.

I kid you not, as I am about to hit publish, two little voices (not 3 because Lily has been sick - the amount of puke that happens in this house is ABSURD) just began singing, "Glory, glory to the King of Kings!  Glory, glory to the Lamb!"  There they go totally redeeming themselves again...and keeping me from aforementioned asylum.

Heard Around Our House

Kaylee through tears and snot running into her mouth, "I don't wanna new room!  Where's my bookths?" (I packed them today sweet baby.)

Poor girl - you need to get used to the whole moving thing to be part of this family!

Deuteronomy 33:25b

...and as your days, so shall your strength be.

Home buying update

Oh my goodness what a process this has been.  I haven't even written about ups and downs and ins and outs.  It wasn't long ago that we had just about given up on the house and were researching other rentals in East Nashville and even began looking in other neighborhoods.  With speed totally uncharacteristic of the VA and flexibility on some of their requests, we may actually close on a home November 10th.  We have an electrician and a contractor working on the house today and tomorrow.  Jon and Luke (big shout out thanks to my husband and brother-in-law who fearlessly travel under the home in the crawl space of a 1953 home) are also helping with the manual labor.  

Yeah, the 10th - that's next week.  No, we are not packed.  I am not freaking out yet.  

Your prayers, emails, and phone calls have been such an encouragement.  I am so thankful for friends to walk with!

We'll keep you posted and maybe you'll be getting a "We've moved!/Merry Christmas" card this year. :)

Awww - a trip down memory lane

My friend and old duplex neighbor sent me this picture today.  It made me smile...and almost cry.  This was the home we lived in on Wheeler Army Air Field in Hawaii (we lived in the half on the right side).  We moved here when Lily was teeny tiny, went through our first OIF deployment here, brought our second baby home from the hospital here, and forged some sweet friendships that I still treasure within those walls {JG, HH, DR, & GR I love you!!!  What do you say we all make our way back to the island one of these days?  Dreamy!}.  I would move back to that duplex in a heartbeat (as long as the electricity problem was fixed, right Jana?!).  Wow - overwhelmed with so many memories!  Thanks, J for sending this blast from the past.  

Don't Waste Your Life

I am so excited!  A book I have been wanting to read is the free download this month at Christian Audio (I still can't get links to work?? but it should be easy to find if you just search for Christian Audio).  I am anxious to listen to Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper. : )

LEAVES!

Raking the mountain.

The award for enjoying the leaves the most was a tie between Eli and Free-Boy.
The dog looks like he is flying :)

He did this all by himself!

The kids attempting to run to the pile...Freeman usually ran towards them slowing
them down before they could get there.

The dog literally running and leaping into the pile made us all laugh :)

Eli bracing for the dog pounce.

One of my favorite parts of homeschooling - having Lily get to spend lots of time
with us outside.

Precious BB

Jump!

I love his face!

Belly flop!

Big girl

Kaylee has done a fantastic job transferring to her "[s]pecial" bed.  I am so proud of her!  I still can't believe she is 2!  Here she is on her birthday in her bed surrounded by all the things she needs to sleep.  I realized looking at this picture how many stories could be told about the items you see.  So, here is a list (for me ;) and maybe someday K if this blog can still be read) of a few special things about this picture:
* Give Me Grace is the book on the top of her stack.  That book has been read to all three of our kids.
* The book on the bottom is about a little chick.  It belonged I believe to my two youngest sisters, and now has been read to all of our kids.
* The table she is using as a night stand is one we got while stationed at Ft. Benning.  Jon painted it for Lily long before she could sit at it.  Lots of meals, snacks, and art projects have been held there.
* The bed was Eli's.
* That pillow case is from a sheet set we got for our wedding.
* The heart blanket was a gift to her from my parents before she was born.
* Bunny My Honey (named after one of Lily's old favorite books) was a gift from K's Great Grandma Ruthie.
* Sophia is the doll we gave her for her first birthday.
* "The Big One" was a doll I played with when I was little at my Nana and DinDin's house.  She is also know as Peloise.

Not a quest for neon-lit billboards, but for holiness and a renewed mind

 After news yesterday that the VA would require a significant amount of work done on the home we are trying to purchase (this after at first giving us the thumbs up) before approving our mortgage, I was confused.  I should not use the past tense, because I am still a bit confused.  This would be the third house to fall through.  God, do we keep pressing on in this direction?  Have we missed something?  Are you leading us to something or somewhere else?  In your goodness are you protecting us from ourselves and our decisions and guiding us elsewhere?

Oh how I want to ask for and receive some special billboard in neon lights from Him pointing in the way we should go.  And by the way, I really like to check off items on a to do list, so one of those in addition to the billboard would be fabulous.  God is able to do whatever pleases him, but neon lights and lists don't seem to be modes of communication he uses!

Last night I wanted to get in God's Word and study about discernment, guidance, decision making.  My head was spinning.  I could have pulled the close your eyes, open the Bible, point to part of the page and read whatever was there ;o) method, but opted to hop on the Desiring God website.  While not infallible nor having any authority over the Word of God, books and sermons have been means of grace in my life; pointing me to the Word and allowing me to glean from the study and wisdom of others.

I printed and read (two times each - lots to digest!) the sermons titled The Goodness of God and the Guidance of Sinners based on Psalm 25 and What is the Will of God and How Do We Know It? based on Romans 12:1 - 2 (I am consistently having trouble creating links on Blogger lately.  I highly recommend grabbing your Bible and going to the DG website and putting those titles into the search bar).

A few of Piper's words that are sticking with me in the study of those passages:

* "The prerequisite of divine guidance is not the quest for messages, but the quest for holiness."

* "...God guides us by bringing our hearts and minds into harmony or sympathy with his own heart and mind so that when we study a situation, we discern (you might even say intuit) what path would best accord with the character and purposes revealed in his Word."

* "What is necessary is that we have a renewed mind, that is so shaped and so governed by the revealed will of God in the Bible, that we see and assess all relevant factors with the mind of Christ, and discern what God is telling us to do.  This is very different from constantly trying to hear God's voice saying do this and do that."

* "There is a world of difference between praying and laboring for  a renewed mind that discerns how to apply God's Word, on the one hand, and the habit of asking God to give you a new revelation of what to do, on the other hand...God's aim is a new mind, a new way of thinking and judging, not just new information."

She's 2!!!

Happy birthday to my sweet Kaylee B.!!  How is she already TWO???  I'll remember this birthday by the fact that her brother has a stomach bug...and I will spend her special day Lysol wiping everything and praying that she somehow avoids catching it!  Think I will try to include more details about my 2 year old and some pictures of her after I am done with the cold washcloths and Gatorade.

That's a third child for you, huh?  A post recognizing her birthday turns into a post about her brother throwing up.

We love you bunches BB!!!! (Don't want to confuse anyone...I think somehow Kaylee B. and baby turned into BB, so it is one of her many nicknames.)

Third time's a charm

Freeman will not stop going potty on the rugs.  2 weeks of this unsuccessful house breaking effort and I am about to scream (...oh wait, I did scream a little bit ago).  Yeah, I used our steam vac on the carpets just last night -  the dog has peed 3 times in the house today.  The third time was the charm for me.  I called him the unthinkable.  The thing you never dare let your parents hear you call your sisters.  I called him a stupid idiot.  In front of our 3 small, impressionable children.  That will certainly come back to haunt me.  Or maybe it will keep them from tee-teeing on the rugs?

PS - I have sought wise counsel in the matter (the dog one, not my rude language) - a friend who loves her dog like a child and another friend who gets to hear all of my issues, dog pee and otherwise.  A and D, I hope to hear from you soon!  Freeman is hoping so too, because he is being kept outside right now. ;o)

Operation World

Part of the challenge in Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream is to pray for the entire world.  Whoa.  That's a lot of people and countries - some I am sure I have never even heard of.  I am going to order the book Platt suggests will guide you to pray for every nation on earth:


 Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation.
 Wouldn't this make a great addition to a dinnertime or bedtime routine?

Radical

I recently read Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt.  It has solidified for us some things that were already woven in our conversations and questions and dreams.  I think we'll be sorting our way through what this means for our family for some time.  This book will point you to the Gospel and will surely change your perspective...it probably won't make you feel super comfortable (You've been warned!).

Have you read this?  What was your reaction?  If not, read it and let's talk! : )  Think I will read it again.

Our move: the 10 year journey

I have started this post about our move many times, and have either deleted it intentionally or gotten interrupted and just never finished it.  A friend encouraged me yesterday to share what we are doing in response to what God is doing in our hearts in spite of my fears of the way people might respond to what I say.  This might take a few sittings and posts for me to write, but here goes my attempt to record some of our journey...

This part of our story started about 10 years ago when we listened to a sermon on cassette tape ; )  on a drive from Arizona back to Point Loma.  The only thing I remember from it was the pastor and his family lived in an area that wasn't the safest and his son's bike got stolen.  In response to this he told the boy it was awesome, because it was preparing him for missions and to serve Christ.  I don't remember the exact quote, but it was certainly not a response I expected or would have!  It startled me a little to witness Jon's response - he was pumped!  It sparked something in him that hasn't left his heart since.

***

This is hard to write!  I keep starting to share another point on this road, but then it makes me remember something else that happened before that.  I am realizing that writing this chronologically with all the details  might not happen.  So, you'll probably just get snapshots in no particular order!  It also is a good reminder to myself of the finger prints of God that we've seen along the way - that is encouraging. : )

***

I have looked for that sermon online without success, but I did find one that has also impacted us.  I highly recommend Risk and the Cause of God by John Piper.  It feels somewhat silly to say moving to Nashville is a risk in light of what others have done and are doing for the sake of Christ.  This is one reason I think I haven't shared much here about this move - it feels like it shouldn't be a big deal.  But in our hearts and in our emotions and lives, it has been for us.  We've also felt the possibility that this might be a baby step for something bigger in the future.  Time will tell!

Time for me to hit "publish post" before I change my mind. ; )

Can you help me?

So, I usually spend 2 - 3 hours eating breakfast, and it drives me crazy.  Kaylee starts the morning bright dark and early with Eli and then Lily following.  By the time one is finished with breakfast, another is beginning; and by the time Lis done, K is practically ready for a snack.  I won't say the lengthy time I spend in the kitchen and at the table is wasted, because I like to chat, read the Bible and pray with them during this time.  But, it sure would be nice to just have this time together, all at once.

Can you help me with any ideas or tips??  Here are the 2 main things that have prevented me from finding a solution:
1.  I don't want to wake up kids who are sound asleep.  It is pretty much against my religion.  We've never been graced with a super sleeper, and now that some of us are waiting until after the sun rises to wake up, I hate to start making them rise and shine before the sun.  If you think I need to just get over this and make everyone wake up between 5 and 5:30, please find a gentle way to break it to me.
2.  Food is the first thing our kiddos want in the morning.  I have to remind them that the potty comes first.  So, requiring the earliest riser to wait for breakfast would be painful (think tears).

Hoping someone has the ticket to me gaining at least an hour in the day!

Hicklen Farm

We went to the sweetest pumpkin farm today!  If you are in the Nashville area, you really have to go.  They are at 2410 Rocky Fork Road Nolensville, TN 37135 and their phone number (you'll think you've just called an elderly man living in the country at his home...you'll be right) is 776-2231.  It doesn't seem to have regular hours, so I'd suggest calling before you head over there.

When we arrived, we were the only people there until it was almost time to leave.  It was a simple, quiet pumpkin patch experience.  Miss Sarah and Mr. Johnny were so kind to us, and it was evident they really love having children at their place.  Sarah shared that her family has owned that farm for about 150 years.  She has lived there since she was 9 months old!  I just can't imagine (as I am about to move into about my 10th home not including college dorms)!  She proudly brought out a book with a picture of their farm in it - out of 3000 photos of old barns in Tennessee, it was one of 300 that made it into the book.  I couldn't really tell you why, but standing there talking to her brought tears to my eyes.  She spoke of different days when they daily had a wagon out front selling vegetables - days before they were "getting older" and days before neighborhoods were practically built on top of them.  Originally they charged to have families and school groups come, now you can just go wander and visit a bit for no charge.  Their pumpkins are priced much cheaper than any I think I have ever seen.  Every child also gets a cute little pumpkin for the small price of drawing a picture for Miss Sarah and writing your name and age on the paper.  She proudly showed me her set of pictures from last year and the collection she's got going this year too.  Mr. Johnny and Miss Sarah were "obligated" to attend a funeral this morning, and she gave me a hug and apologized for having to "run off so quick before [we were] ready to go."  Their daughter and son-in-law also live on the property, and he was "left in charge to take care of [us]."  Take care of us he did - the wagon full of fun pumpkins and other gourds you'll see Eli pulling below cost us $5.00.  We're going back with a picnic next time.

 This is Mr. Johnny before he changed into his slacks, suspenders, bolo tie, and "fancy" cowboy hat.  I wish I had taken a picture of Miss Sarah too - next time!