Christmas Tea

Maddie and I had a special treat today. Our good friends, Leona and Noelle Strait, invited us to an afternoon Victorian Christmas Tea. We had so much fun! We laughed, shared stories, and ate really yummy goodies! The tea was amazing (I had no idea all of the science behind teas!). We each had our own tea pots and chose from a huge list of teas.

I was so glad I skipped lunch today! There was so much food, and all delicious.

But even better than the wonderful food and tea was the company. I am so thankful for these two lovely ladies...
And you know how I feel about this lovely lady...
This was just what we needed to get in the Christmas spirit. We learned a lot about teas, and English Christmas traditions, including the Christmas cracker, which did not cooperate as the girls tried to pop it together. All it did was break, but it provided great laughter and entertainment!
Thank you, Leona and Noelle, for a super fun afternoon, and for your friendship! You bless our family in so many ways!

slumber party

Maddie's birthday celebration was on Friday night, and we invited 8 of her friends over for a slumber party. Knowing this is a crazy time of year, I was sure that there would be a few that wouldn't be able to make it, especially since it was the first night of Christmas vacation. All but one could come. So, including Maddie, we had 8 girls over for a Movie Theater birthday party, complete with concessions and movie tickets.

Maddie's crazy friends...

Concession Stand and movie tickets

Caleb helped me figure out how much (fake) money to give to each girl, and how much to charge each girl for the movie ticket, a box of candy, and a bag of popcorn (that way I could have a little control over how much junk they ate!). The girls loved having money to spend and picking out their own candy.

Tickets are purchased and waiting for the movie time...

Movie time! (A Christmas Carol...a bit scarier than I remembered it...)

I was a little unsure if I could figure out how to make a movie-themed cake, but inspiration struck and it came together in the end.

The goodie bags

And, of course, the obligatory slumber party pillow fight!

Pancakes for breakfast

It was a great party, and the girls all seemed to have a great time. Maddie felt special surrounded by her friends. What a blessing to have such good friends. And what a blessing to have a slumber party with 8 girls and have NO arguing or bickering. They all get along so well!

The best gift came on Saturday night, when Maddie finally heard the results of her audition for The Sound of Music. Maddie got the part of Marta! She is sooooooo very excited! And we are preparing ourselves for the crazy and chaotic season of LOTS of rehearsals and late nights! Way to go, Maddie! We are so proud of you! For the role you got in the play, and even more so for the young woman you are becoming. Love you to pieces!

maddie sue

My baby girl turned 11 yesterday.

Seriously.

Can't quite wrap my brain around that fact. It blows my mind that this little girl...


has become this young lady...

Nope.

But, seriously, isn't she beautiful?

We all tiptoed into Maddie's room and woke her with singing "Happy Birthday."


Then we started the morning with our traditional birthday breakfast (which, by the way, has become more complicated now that we have two different school start times...). Maddie's special breakfast included her favorite, cinnamon rolls.

She got to open her cards and present.

Then it was off to school, where she shared her special birthday treat of hot chocolate and candy canes. Here she is with her good friends, Lauren and Autumn.

And the whole goofy bunch...

Nate had a wrestling meet in the evening, so I took the boys to Manitou Springs for that, and Maddie went on a special birthday date with her Daddy. They had a wonderful time, but the pictures are on his phone right now...

We all gathered at home for ice cream. Maddie is excited for her party on Friday night...a sleep-over with 8 girlfriends! Should be a blast!

Maddie brings such joy to our home. She has a deep heart that loves to worship and serve. She is the most dramatic kid I know (in a good way, really!) and keeps us all entertained. My heart overflows with thankfulness for her life, and the gift that God gave me 11 years ago!

I love you, Maddie Sue!

Difference of ONE

Please watch this video.

Difference of ONE from Children's HopeChest on Vimeo.

I am so moved by this video. I have been praying earnestly about how God wants to use ME to impact the fatherless, defenseless, broken, and destitute. How He would use our family. I feel like He has a plan, something I can't yet grasp. Seeing this video fuels the fire, makes me want to jump in with both feet. I am trying to be patient as I seek God on this, but my insides burn with a desire to do something. Now.

But I'll wait.

And, in the meantime, I pray. About the big picture. About going back to Swaziland. For my friends there and those I have yet to meet.

We serve a big God. A God that delights in using His children to minister to those that are hurting. A God that longs to use ME. ONE person. To change the life of ONE.

playing hookie

We have a tradition around here. Each fall semester, I surprise each of the kids on any given day with an unexpected day off from school. They never know when it's coming, they can't ask when it will be their turn...you know, like a thief in the night! And on that day, it's all about that particular child. No agenda. No cell phone. No errands.

Only that child exists.

Yesterday was Micah's day.

It was actually a bit of a surprise to me, too! I had it on my radar that I would be taking Micah sometime this week, possibly Thursday. But then my schedule opened up yesterday, and I thought, "What the heck?"

So, I told Micah to change from his uniform clothes and put on play clothes. Today was HIS day!

We decided to hop in the car and drive to Denver, with the hope of making it to Krispie Kream while the "Hot" sign was still shining brightly. Unfortunately, the snow began to fly, blizzard conditions appeared, and just as we were climbing Monument Hill, the radio crackled something about a 40-car pile-up just north of Monument Hill. So, we quickly jumped off the interstate while we still could, and headed back to Colorado Springs!

We opted for Panera. Not as tantalizing as Krispie Kream, but we made due.

You know, you learn so much about your child when you take the time to BE with them. Just listen. Watch. Soak in "him." One thing that is interesting about Micah is that he wants so badly to do what he wants to do, until it's time for him to dictate for himself. Then he doesn't care.

"So, Micah, it's totally up to you. What do you want to do today?"

"I don't know. It really doesn't matter."

"Hmmmmm, how about Option A? Or B? Or we could do C and D? What do you think?"

"I don't know. You decide."

We had conversations yesterday about making decisions and being a leader. Good conversations. And he started making decisions.

And you know what my boy wanted to do? Go home. Yep, we headed home on that cold, snowy morning, put on our jammies, and played the Wii. We laughed and talked and sat side by side under a shared blanket.

Then we got dressed again and headed to Starbucks for a couple of Salted Caramel Hot Chocolates. Oh my. Decadent.

With hot chocolate in hand, we headed to the Christian bookstore. Because my son wanted to buy a Bible for his best friend for Christmas. This friend has begun coming to church with Micah every week, and Micah prays for him every night. And God is moving through those prayers. Micah's friend went with him this past weekend on the middle school retreat, and borrowed a Bible from a leader. I don't know all that transpired, but I know God moved in amazing ways, and I know Micah's friend is beginning to desire God. And worship. And we are praying hard for him and his family. And Micah is giving him a Bible for Christmas.

I love this boy.

I want to be more like him.

girls' night

I love having a daughter. When God "surprised" us with another pregnancy before Micah turned a year old, I never dreamed what an incredible gift He was giving us! The older Maddie gets, the more fun we have together. We are a respite for each other in the midst of this testosterone-driven household. We "get" each other. And we have so much fun being girls together.


One thing I love to do with Maddie is watch movies. We both like the same kinds of movies, and we both cry at the same things. So, when we know we are going to watch a tear-jerker, we ban the boys from entering the room, and we cry freely. You see, we learned early on that if the boys are around, they take every opportunity to make fun of our movie, and laugh at us when we cry.

So, no boys allowed.

This past Friday night, the boys were all going to the varsity football game. If you hadn't heard, football has taken over our lives recently, so Maddie and I opted for a girls' night in! We went out to pick up Qdoba nachos to share, then settled in for a "Little House on the Prairie" marathon (got the entire 1st season from Netflix!).


How fun to relive my favorite shows from my childhood with my daughter!


During intermission, we made homemade Pumpkin Spice Lattes (latte for me, steamer for Maddie).

Perfect fall evening! Lattes, "Little House," and sharing it all with my daughter!

friday flashback

October 2002

learning to be me

What a busy week this has been! More football games, a sick child, trying to get caught up on house work and laundry, helping friends, and lots of meetings for work.

Normally, this week would have been overwhelming. Tiring. And I would have become Cranky Mama.

But this week was different. And, oh, so much better than it could have been.

This week, I set aside Monday morning, for three whole hours, to sit in my Father's lap. And talk. Share my heart. Cry. Ask for wisdom. Beg for freedom. And just be ME.

I can't tell you how freeing it was to spend that time and not feel guilty. That sounds so strange, but it's true. I often feel guilty for spending extended time with God, when I should be doing something productive. Accomplishing things. Afterall, other people don't have the luxury of being home alone, spending hours with God. I should be taking advantage of my time and getting more things done.

But, you know what? I accomplished more this week, and with a much happier heart, because I started my week off right.

And God reminded me this week of Mary and Martha, and how Mary pleased Jesus so much when she stopped working and just sat with him.

I have always fought against who I am, how I was created, and wished I was more task-oriented and a go-getter. Our society really values the movers and shakers, the people that get out there and make things happen. I have longed to be that person. But this week, God has been showing me that he made me to love relationships. To be a good listener. To bring peace to the movers and shakers.

I am beginning to embrace who I am. Beginning to. And realizing that I was truly created for relationship with my Father. And I desperately need to spend time in His lap. And when I get up from His lap, I am able to engage this world and be who He created me to be. A lover of people. A good listener. Someone who brings peace to others. And in being ME, I accomplish Oh, so much.

fall foliage with friends

Lauren and Abby Clapp came home from church with us today. Maddie has so much fun playing with them, and today they had the extra excitement of having leaves to play in!


It has taken many years for our trees to produce enough leaves to actually be able to rake into a pile big enough to romp in, but it has finally happened!

WE

LOVE

FALL!

explorer's day

The school our kids go to does a lot of "Curriculum Days" where the kids get to dress up and experience some of what the people of that particular time period would have experienced. With four kids all going through elementary years at this school, we have had our share of costumes for Pioneer Day, Native American Day, Constitution Day, Medieval Day, Roman Day, an so on. Every day that Maddie dresses up is an end of a chapter, as she is our last for each of these events.

This past week was another "last" for us, as Maddie had her "Explorer's Day." The kids had to write a report on a specific explorer, then give a first-person speech to the class. Maddie was Francisco de Coronado. She put together her costume, practiced her speech, and made her map.


She did a fantastic job giving her presentation to the class.

And, with that, another project is in the books.

double the fun

What a great weekend we had! My brother Daron and sis-in-law Tari came from Minnesota with their girls, Ella and Abby. It has been nearly two years since we last saw them...waaaaay too long! Of course, as soon as they walked in the door, they ran off with Maddie, and I had to fight with her the whole weekend for time with them (she pretty much won in this area, but I did get some snuggle time with them here and there!).

Here is Maddie telling a story to the girls during Nate's football game (SUPER exciting game, by the way, and Nate was amazing!)...

All smiles...

Had to include this picture. Ella and Abby are wearing Maddie's clothes from when she was their age. So stinkin' cute, and so hard to believe how long it's been since Maddie was this size!

Ella Bella

Abby loved the braids I put in her hair

More Maddie time. Maddie was amazing with the girls, here she is reading bedtime stories to them. She is going to make one incredible babysitter in a couple of years!

Love me some Micah!

And this one is for Grami... not the greatest picture of Maddie, but thought you'd be happy to see the new do. Just cut it last night!

friday flashback

In great anticipation of seeing these people in a few hours, here is a flashback to October 2007

Can't wait to see you, Ella and Abby, and Uncle Daron and Aunt Tari!