It's been a ROUGH parenting day with meltdown after meltdown, and not just from the kids...ha! Just keeping it real. But somewhere tucked inside all the chaos is a chance to teach them about Christ's love. It's not always pretty, and it's certainly not perfect, but it is there if we look closely enough. We had the opportunity to donate books to a mission project.  A wonderful lady in our community is starting a library for children in the Philippines, and she asked if we would be willing to donate used books.  OF COURSE!!!  For me, the chance to de-clutter was enough motivation, but more than that it was chance to teach my children how to give to others in need. Another opportunity presented itself when Eli started having some doubts about playing basketball.  To ease his mind, I taught him Philippians 4:13 " I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."  I made him this little reminder to carry around with him, but the true less...

Today was the 100th Day of School and Donuts with Dad.   I don't have much time, but I wanted to share my two loves today. 

We started a Bible study at church called, "Fight Back With Joy." I am so excited because coming into the new year I asked The Lord to restore joy into certain areas of my life. Then low and behold, we choose this study!!   I started reading last night and then this morning it was back to the crazies of getting two kids out the door on time. When I got to the end of the road, the above picture was my view. Ya'll it brought me so much joy. His mercies are new every morning, indeed!!! As I was pulling into work, Ellie's teacher sent me this photo. It brought me joy to see this precious friendship blossoming and to know that because our town is so small, these girls will probably be the SG version of the three amigos! Then tonight at church, a local business blessed our congregation by supporting our bus ministry and providing dinner for the whole church. It brought me joy to experience their generosity. It brought me joy to study Gods word with so many great women, and ...

I mentioned this yesterday, but Ellie got her first haircut.  Eli was born with TONS of hair, so it was a challenge waiting until he was one…you know, so he won't go bald.  Stupid wives tale!  Ellie has been another story, bless her heart.  She has a mullet that likes of Billy Ray Cyrus and Joe Dirt would envy.  Oh, and the said mullet is curly.  Good times! Basically her hair grows pin straight in from her crown to her forehead.  Meanwhile, her "sideburns" grow straight down on both sides, and then there are the curls.  Ya'll she's a hot mess which makes me soooo grateful for bows.  I was sorta sad when the stylist told me that some length would have to come off to help shape the rest of it.  The long locks in the back were the only thing her "style" had going for it.  Nonetheless, I believe the experts and trust their opinion, and she was right. The final product is much better! As for the process....

Today was a good day.  The sun was shining, the temperatures were near perfect, and the kids slept until 8:00 this morning which meant that I enjoyed a nice, long and semi -relaxing coffee break. I attended our city's MLK Celebration, so I dropped the kids off at daycare around 9:45 before heading to the program.  It was very uplifting and inspiring, and I am so glad I went.  After the service, I ran to Wal-Mart to pick up some shirts/dresses to have monogrammed for our Disney Trip.  More on that later, but for now, Wal-Mart has some really cute clothes! I made it to pick up the kids in just enough time to get to their haircut appointments.  Eli wanted a mohawk, so I agreed with the understanding that he could only style it that way on the weekends…and not at church.  Ha!  It was Ellie's first haircut, so you can expect a post dedicated to this milestone.   After the haircuts, I rewarded their good behavior with a tri...

Please excuse the quality of these photos.  My iPhone is crappy.  Nonetheless, I wanted to document my kids matching apparel for my personal sentiments because I have a strong suspicion that this time next year, a certain six-year-old won't want to match his sister.   Actually, it may be Ellie who winds up being stubborn.  Prissy Sissy loves herself some clothes!  She was so proud of her dress and the "no" (a.k.a snow) on it.  She also wanted everyone to see "Loloff" (a.k.a Olaf.)  I have to admit, it's fun having someone else appreciation girlie stuff! Other than their outfits, there isn't much to report.  Our day was pretty predictable with church, lunch, a trip to the grocery, and lots of family time!  

Yesterday I mentioned it briefly, but today I am ready to talk about the big, ole, fat, pink Elephant in the room…sleep.   Or better yet, the lack there of.  Do ya’ll remember 2009-2012 when I complained regularly about Eli’s sleeping habits?   Well, now the boy sleeps like baby.   Ugh, bad analogy.   He sleeps like a baby SHOULD!!!   He goes to bed every single night by himself and doesn’t wake up until I have to get him ready for school.   On the weekends he will sleep until 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning.   Ellie…not so much.   She is an extremely light sleeper.   She roots and tosses all night.   She cries out several times a night, but usually goes right back to sleep…except when she doesn’t.   It comes in waves and is a very predictable pattern.    She will go two or three weeks with a perfect nighttime record, then out of nowhere it stops.     When that happens, I’m awakened nearly...

Hey, ya'll!  I can't believe that we're eleven days into the the new year, and I am just now getting to the blog.  On second thought, yeah,  I can.  I've been out of the habit of posting for a long time now.  I would love to commit to writing everyday...heck, every week would be an improvement!  Anyway, as much as I would love to make that commitment, I don't want to make any promises that I can't keep. I do hope to do better about documenting our life and my thoughts.  Writing is just therapeutic for me, and it helps me process things, for example the sleep issues in our home.  I haven't written much about our "woes" in that area recently. I mentioned it a lot when Eli was little, and it helped me.  This time around, not so much.  I really need to put it all into words.  Maybe later. So, back to blogging.  I suspect there will be more posts in the future, but not necessarily a lot of pictures.  We shall see. I guess...