update on times

42 days until Cliff comes home for R&R. We hit our half way point in two days! That is a HUGE success!! I got my new computer today and I am so excited! It is PURPLE! :)

No crawling yet, just scooting backwards. Turner is NOT in a hurry like Colden was, but he is ready to crawl I think. He is starting to get frustrated not being able to GO! Those boys are so cute, and I am highly favored for them being given to me!

Five Down

FIVE MONTHS DOWN, AND SEVEN TO GO! THAT SEEMS DOABLE, RIGHT?? Especially with these next two months being our countdown to R&R!

71 days!!! Whoop Whoop!

Why do you have your Christmas tree up so early?

I stole this from a blog I follow. Thought it was great.

going deeper

"deep cries out to deep"

I want to go deeper in my writing. I have been reading Ann Vos Kamp's "A Holy Experience" blog, and really enjoying it. Her book "1000 gifts" is truly life changing.

Daily I think, remember when I was fun and spontaneous, and full of life? Well, I am still that girl, but today I get bogged down by all the clothes piled up on my kitchen table that need to be folded and put away, and sick of telling the three year old to stop jumping on the couch. Seeing things in an eternal perspective is something that I have pondered for years, but what if I really started doing it? What if, instead of thinking of all the things I want to do, and all the places I want to go before I die, I just start living in the moment and realizing "So what if bed time was supposed to be 40 min ago? I am just enjoying time with my three year old. Time that I will never get back!" It does make it harder when your help meet is in Afghanistan, and there is no back up, but that is not a reason to rush the days full of naps and schedules and feeding and bedtimes! My children are gifts, and I should start treating them as such, instead of burdens. They are MY LIFE right now. Obviously, Thomas the Train is on in the background, and both the boys are in bed....................... Oy Vey!

10
Point Manifesto for Joyful Parenting

(any text in turquoise links to posts for more explanation & encouragement)::

1. Today, I will make our home a house of prayer. I will pray at set times. And I will invite our children to come move into an interior space that lives with God.

2. Today, I will transfigure all things into beauty, and I will refuse to see anything else.

3. Today, I will not have any emergencies. There are no emergencies!Only amateurs hurry.

4. Today, when stress mounts, I pray to dismount it with gratitude.My stress management plan will be intervention with verbal thanks. I can only feel one feeling at a time, and I choose to give thanks at all times. Fight feeling with feeling!

5. Today, I will pray to speak words that are only STRONG words, words that make these children feel strong. Grace words. Grace is the only non-toxic air. All other words I breathe are death words.

6. Today, I will pray to be consistently consistent. I will create safe rhythms that our children can find security in. I will create daily ceremonies because everyday we are CELEBRATING the gift of now!

7. Today, the moment when I am most repelled by a child’s behavior, that is my sign to draw the very closest to that child.

8. Today, I will hug each of my children as many times as I serve them meals — because children’s hearts feed on touch. I’ll look for as many opportunities to touch my children today as possible — the taller they are, the more so.

9. Today, my priorities will be all Things Unseen.

10. Today, I will laugh! And I will let the little children laugh! I will create aculture of JOY!

Cold and Flu Season

Well the bacteria has struck already. Turner has an ear infection, Colden has diarrhea, and I have pink eye. In most cases, it is ALL CAUSED BY THE SAME BACTERIA. Somehow we all got some part of it. Not sure which one I would rather have.

PC problems and update

My motherboard is on it's way out. Last night, my computer's audio stopped working. I am currently watching my school presentations on my neighbors computer. Thank God for neighbors and friends.

Turner has a yeast infection brought on my antibiotics. I think the yeast got in the diapers, so now I have bleached them, and just about everything else. Hopefully, they do not give him chemical burns now. He is currently sleeping in a plastic diaper. It is weird. I do NOT trust them. The diapers.

Trying to rid myself of bitterness. Cliff's grandfather passed away last week. This man had nothing to do with him his whole life, and he lived so close to us. He made this choice. He had another family and didn't want Cliff's dad and aunt to get in the way. I think I am bitter now that he is dead because when he was alive, it was like there was a possibility of him apologizing or telling someone he was sorry or regretful or that he loved them or anything. Now, he is dead, so there will be nothing like that. I can't shake this bitterness. He robbed my wonderful husband of having a grandfather.

LOVE THIS SONG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC-51dy5Knk

For King and Country's song "Busted Heart"!

I LOVE IT!

Halloween

Oh! Life before Children!!

In Your Eyes

I am lost.
I am falling.
I am caught in a raging storm.
I am drifting with the endless tide.
I am flying high above the clouds.
I am laying in the softest grass.
I am caught in a silver net.
I am wrapped in a warm blanket on the coldest night.
I am holding pure sunshine.
I am sane in a world of insanity.
I am a child in an amusement park.
I am happy.
I am excited.
I am complete.
I am content.
I am gazing deep into your eyes.
And I see love.

husband

oh how my love for this man has grown between these two moments!

random pictures from hawaii. i miss you my hawaii.

Three Months

So we have a little over three months til we get to see each other! I feel like I could celebrate, is that dumb? I mean, he has only been gone 4, why do I think these three are going to go so fast? Maybe because these months are November, December, and January. Two of those will go by fast.

a day

today was a day. had a meeting this morning, ran errands that went haywire, fought for nap time. this evening, however, we went and saw Lisa Loeb on post. it was fun, and she is so cute with her little kids songs. good time. now boys are in bed, and i'm headed there too!

4 Years Together

Another year has passed us by

oh how the time does fly

Another year spent apart

another year with half my heart

Late at night, I dream of you

but when I wake, I still miss you

Someday soon, I'll be home

then no more will I roam

The love we share, it is true

You love me, and I love you

We both love our children too.

Four years now, we have spent together

Since I said I do, forever

I want to hug, I long to kiss

the one that I profess to miss

In my arms, where you belong

you have not been for far too long

Do not worry, do not fret

the best of times have not come yet

They will come when I do

when I come at last, to you.

Written by Cliff on our 4th anniversary

Our Dancin Song....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1ugX-cZPSw

Check it out. We are currently getting DOWN!!! Go Colden Go Colden!

New One

Airplane

Here I sit and watch you fly

always coming, always going

everyday you pass me by

without a hint or sign of slowing

in your belly i wish to be

when you soar way up above

bring me up, set me free

and take me to the one i love

so sleek and fine, yet you are not

the true love of my life

please take me to the one who is

the one that i call wife.

Turner or Colden

these are different kids. at about the same age. pretty cool, huh?

Pictures

the couch almost exploded with cuteness!

The Self-Reliant Toddler

When people warned me about toddlers, I don't think I realized what they meant. A tiny human who thinks he can do anything you can do, and doesn't want your help (or for you to even look at him while he is trying). Well after millions of complete temper tantrums, and millions of struggles, today I was def reaping benefits from it. Turner, Colden, and I were all in the kitchen. Turner was ready to go to bed, so I went upstairs to lay him down. When I came back Colden was gone. I called out for him and he yelled from the bathroom "I'm in here Mommy." He was sitting on the pot going poo ALL BY HIMSELF. Now, he hasn't gone anywhere other than in the potty for about 6 months, but I usually have to be in the room, or at least close. Well, this time, he didn't even yell out that he was going. He just went.

Now, if we could only get him to wipe himself......

Kick-Off

The new year of PWOC starts today. I am so excited to see everyone, see what studies are offered, and see what God has in store for all of us! It is now located right by our house, so unless it is raining, 111 degrees, or really cold and windy, we will be walking.

I am really excited about this new season of life! We are entering a new phase of the deployment. The middle 6 months are the easiest. You get used to them being gone, and you start living life not worrying about them at every second. It is still hard, but you just get used to it. :)

taking it one day at a time.

HOW FAST DOES TIME GO? Why do I constantly rush around rushing through the days? How did this.......

turn into this.......?

A Poem for us Busy Momma's

Mother, O' Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth.

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek - peekaboo.

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew,

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo.

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,

But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

~ Ruth Hulbert Hamilton