Just Reminiscing while I cook! Thanks Ju for helping me find this oldie but goodie for my New Years' Eve playlist

What's on your holiday playlist?

Ezra's Christmas Concert! We are so proud of him.

This is my favorite Christmas Video today!

What time I am afraid, I will trust in the Lord!

Yesterday, I had a complete delightful time with my little ones. We danced and frolicked, etc. We took a trip to the Discovery-Place! It is just the best.

I simply couldn't have designed a better place for a bunch of 2 year olds! We walked in and I said, this is the place for me. All of the children looked at me and knew that I was just about to do my "holy dance" or "pitch forward" as we "Boddens" affectionately call it.

I was taught in my spiritual disciplines class that God is exalted when we praise Him through the darkest nights. I danced to this song, when my heart was in pieces on the floor. I imagined yesterday, dancing with the little children and I really didn't believe that I could get up from there. And there I was dancing with the little ones. Thank you Sandy Patti and everybody that prayed for me in my darkest hours, that I could get up! Thanks to my "pitch forward" class and the grace of God.

Psalm 139

Happy Birthday to me.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it...

is to prepare a little fellow for the best and most challenging mission of his life. The mission of becoming a big brother was Braxton's promotion, yesterday.

I met baby Braxton at 3 months old and it was my pleasure to watch him become the delightful and cantankerous{sometimes} toddler that he has become. I took it for granted in my prayer time, yesterday, that a real milestone was coming for my dear little friend{and he has become a friend}.

He walked in the door at 6:10am and I felt led to say God is good to him, first thing. He responded, without a breath "How good?" I wasn't expecting his response at all. I was just throwing this little cliche' into his hearing with the hopes that he would catch it someday, by and by. I said "...too good to make a mistake." He seemed a bit out of sorts and we tried to get to the potty, as we were directed by his Dad to do. This became a delightful catch me if you can game which we laughed about. Nobody else would have been laughing at such a couple of laps around the daycare. I was. I was laughing that I couldn't catch him and still I would continue to try. I became a big sister so many times in my life that I cannot even count anymore. Real baby sisters and spiritual baby sisters are a wonderful blessing to me and so I should have noticed that the moment was coming for my Braxton and that this was my mission of the day. It still took me by suprise. He acted tired, once I caught him, so I put him on my lap, like a baby and began telling him how special it is to be a big brother. He wet 2 minutes after I had put him on the potty, which is not unlike him. I had a thick blankie under him, but the puddle was on the floor and not on me, Thank God.

We had an ordinary day. He regressed a bit and was weeping and crying, from the time that he heard the baby was born until naptime. I was sensitive to his pain, but firm that we had to keep to the schedule. I kept telling him that mommy was alright and this seemed to help him.

It reminded me of the day Daddy and Ju and I had to pull over in the car, because Ju had a fit that mommy wasn't coming back home. She thought the song on the radio meant that mommy wasn't coming back. Dad had to pull over, for her screaming. I remember thinking, why do they keep comforting her about this. They would've spanked me for such a performance? I love my baby sisters and I do enjoy somewhat the impossible mission of preparing big brothers for their role in a youngerling's life!

I am struck afresh at the magnitude of Christ's presence in my life. Eternally grateful to HIM!

Juicy!

Juicy, where's my goosy? In the fridge cold and loosy

Way down in the bottom of the fridge sat a wonderful bag of apples, a bag of carrots and a bag of celery that didn't make the cut for the Thanksgiving feast that we are chewing on throughout this long weekend. Nothing seems to last as long as I expect it to. I thought this was a month long volume of food that my girls and I had prepared. The lasagna is half gone, the macaroni and the turkey and roast are all whittling down into nothingness. Wow! These kids can eat.

This means it is juicing day, today. Elyse and I made it a part of our prayer meeting this morning to dust out the juicer and prepare the remaining raw veggies and fruit for juicing. Lord, make these vegetables a cleansing agent for all the intestines in our care, we pray, Amen. And off we went into juicing land.

OUt of the juicer came a wonderful brew of juice that is the sweetest juice we've made together. Usually there is ginger and spinach and bok choy to dull the sweetness of the many apples. Not this time.We toasted to our common bond of maternal/daughter love and we drank a half cup to test its goodness.

It was the best! Now to pawn it off on the unbelievers in our juicy cleanse. :)

Yesterday's moment's in the cook pot weren't a waste.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal at the Leader's house. Busily running to sit in front of the tv and talk about the wonder of time and how we have spent it so far. We had far too much food and too much sitting.

I was totally expecting to gather my chicks in the morning for somesort of aerobic activity. Gravity has set in. I talked myself out of that sentiment, saying that I spend far too much time outdoors with my babies and I don't need to pay my body anything for the gluttonous feast that I indulged in.

I spent the day putting a book together for my "apple-dumpling gang". I gathered prewriting sheets and covered them in plastic and tried to punch holes and use my machineless binding system. It was to no avail and it was a futile endeavor to comb those things into the plastic. I would have thrown the whole idea out of the window, in my anger. Patience prevailed and I got something together with tape and pinching. Not what I wanted, but it was, at least a monument of the level of effort that I put into the process. I do hope that the children will use it and I hope that I can figure out a better way and quicker way to put these items together for them.

My Ari motivated me by her perserverance trying to complete those Cc's. She just kept at it, over and over, with such little progress and so much determination that I had to complete my book, if only for her.

I also was working on some Christmas crafts, just for my own entertainment. This is a luxury that I hardly get to do. Christmas trees was the theme. I did some plain ones and I am working on a Christmas tree maze decoration. It is all in my mind and I am using a stencil to guide my completion. I got 85% done and took a break and now I can't find the exacto knife that I was using. {Isn't that always the way?}

Intermittently, I picked on some turkey and lasagna and rice and macaroni, etc. My breakfast was a delicious sandwich of turkey and cranberry on pumpernickle. I don't know why I don't cook like that every week to free myself up to do more crafting?

Who knew that an adult Thanksgiving, could be such fun?

Not to mention, catching up on my blogs and new photo above...