My pride overflows

These kids are so talented...it's embarassing.

In case you couldn't understand this high quality video, they are singing

Awesome Underwear and Good Garbage

with Will's new underwear on their heads

Yep. I am so proud.

Just 3 new

I'm working at lightning speed trying to create a special scrapbook for someone else. It's fun, but it means less time for my own pages. I probably won't be able to post any new layouts until after Christmas. Hopefully, this will tide you all over until then. :)

Super small journaling reads:

Will has a slight obsession with cars. He will play with them all day as long as he has someone else willing to play with him. There is a very specific way, though, in which he wants to play cars. Each person chooses a car (he always gets Lightning McQueen) then proceeds to “talk” for them. Conversations always go like this:
“Hi. How are you? I Lightning Queen. I fast.” (pause while the other car responds)
Then he says the exact samething all over again. About 50 times per day.
“Hi. How are you? I Lightning Queen. I fast.”
Don’t even try to vary the conversation. It won’t work. Trust me.

Mallory knows this routine better than any of us...which led to this recentconversation with Daddy. After reading about Josiah the 8 year old king.
Mallory: How can an 8 year old be a king?
Daddy:Well, that’s how it works. His dad died, so Josiah had to take over. If I were king and then I died, Will would become king
Mallory: Will would not make a very good king(in her best Will voice ‘Okay, everybody play cars. That’s the law!’)pretends to have two little cars in her hand: ‘Hi!’

Super small journaling reads:

Jeremy reads the newspaper almost every Sunday. He usually spreads it out across the living room floor and patiently tries to read while the kids run, jump and laugh all around him. This Sunday was different. This Sunday Will sat down right next to his Daddy, picked up his own section and started “reading” too. After about a minute, Will looked at Jeremy and said, “Just like you Daddy.” Then, Jeremy’s heart melted.



I'm not that impressed with this layout, but it's a year overdue, and those stitched letters took me forever. So, I'm posting it:)

Super small journaling reads:
On the night that your Kindergarten class was performing Handel’s Messiah, you were forced tostay home sick. I wanted to make sure you were still able to have a special evening, so we put
together a Christmas Tea. We set the table with our Christmas china, lit holiday candles, & made some of your favorite treats. You created placecards for each of us and even added your own special touch to the paper napkins.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

I really do love my family. I know they are a blessing from God. Of course, there are many, many more people that I'm thankful for. At some point, I would run out of circles, though!

Right now Mal and Will are in the backyard preparing a feast for anyone who would like to come. My old rug will serve as the table and tablecloth and our porch chairs have been turned upside down for plates. It consists mostly of pinecones and pineneedles. The food may be...umm...tough? But the company is sure to delight! Be sure to say
"Happy Shanks-Yous-Gibbing" so Will knows what your talking about :)

Some things don't change

Did you forget about me? It's been a while since I've posted. Several people have asked Jeremy and myself to post some recent pictures. However, every time I sit down to write an update it seems like we get to go through another crisis. Then the update is outdated. I just can't keep up. We've been on such an emotional rollercoaster that I'm starting to feel a little numb. Do you ever get that way?

For me, it's gotten to the point that every time the phone rings I get tense. Before I've even reached the phone to answer it I've already prayed that everyone is safe. Trying to sum up everything that has happened lately seems a little overwhelming. Instead, I thought I'd write about what hasn't changed since the last time I posted. Because I'm the girly, need-to-make-it-look-pretty person that I am, I scrapbooked about it too :)

Journaling reads:
Our love for God and our desire to live for Him hasn’t changed. In fact, I’m certain our faith has grown because of the trials. Our studyof His word has increased & our prayer life has improved. Hmm..makes me wonder why I’m so afraid of trials if these are the results!
Jeremy is the same loving husband & adoring father that he has always been. He works so hard at providing for us and at keeping our focus on God.
Mallory is as sweet and thoughtful as ever...probably more so. She still loves her brother and has an unbelievable amount of patience with him. She still loves her school and works very hard at pleasing her teacher, her parents and God.
I am still in love with Jeremy (going on 8 years) and my precious kids. I still love staying at home with Will and volunteering at Mal's school as much as I can. I love God's word and I try to learn more from Him with each passing day.
Okay, so Will actually has changed a lot lately. BUT, he is still the same cute, fun-loving,active, death-defying, hilarious boy that we’vealways adored.
We still cherish our little family and crave getting to be together as much as possible.



Maybe someday I'll get around to writing about all the emotional highs and lows we've been through, but for now I'm going to just skip it. :)Jerry Seinfeld style. Now on to what you really came here to see: pics of the kids. Here are a few layouts that I finally finished.


Have I ever mentioned how SWEET my kids are? :)

Journaling reads:

Last night I caved to Mallory's pleas and allowed both kids to sleep on the floor of our room last night. Jeremy wasn't thrilled about the idea since it has never really worked well before and he had to get up early for work. My response was that Will is older now and I'm sure he'll be fine. My mistake.
Will was up every two hours crying because he wanted to sleep in bed with us. Jeremy absolutely won't allow that. He just can't stand to be kicked in his back while he is trying to sleep. So, I got up every two hours as well to put Will back on his mat and sing him back to sleep. By about 4:00 am I had pretty much had it. Will climbed into bed and snuggled up close to me. I let him. I just didn't want to get out of bed again. Then, I felt the sweetest little kisses on my shoulder. Will must have kissed me 20 times before he rested his head on my shoulder and fell asleep. (sigh) Maybe he was trying to say thank you for letting him stay there, or maybe he was just saying I love you. Either way, I will gladly forfeit 8 hours of sleep for 30 seconds of unsolicited Will-kisses ANY night! He's so sweet.

When I woke up that morning I noticed that Mallory wasn't on her mat anymore. She wasn't even in the room. I got worried about her, so I went on a Mal-hunt. I found her in the kitchen cleaning off the table and wiping it down. "Mom!", she gasped, "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be sleeping! Can you please go back to bed?" I quickly replied, "Uhh...yep. I sure can." About 30 minutes later I got up again and found a breakfast buffet laid out on the table for the three of us. Mallory used paper coffee liners and filled them with various things for breakfast. Then, she said, "Ok, you sit down and just tell me what you would like on your plate!" She's so sweet.

Mallory was Tinkerbell for Halloween:

Will was Bob the Builder:Now that Will is almost 2 1/2, I've finished his 2 year old layout:

Journaling reads:
Games:"aypay" where Daddythrows you around &flips you. you beg him to play every day. Monster chase where you, Mallory & I take turns roaring likelike a monster & chasing eachother aroundthe house. You prefer for me to be "it".
Toys: You have a slight obsession with cars. Not a day goes by that Idon't see you driving them around on the walls or windowsills.
Shoes: you have been obsessed with these shoes from the moment that you saw them! You want to wear them everywhere including your bed and the bath tub!
Books: I'm so glad that you love to read! The two books that you insist on reading at least once per day are Snug House Bug House and Cooking with the Cat.

Older picture, new layout:

This routine is old (goes back to when Mal was a toddler), but the layout and journaling are new:

Older picture, new layout:

Ok, these will have to do until I find some more scrapbooking time. I just bought a bunch of new stuff, though, and I'm dying to play with it all. So, the layouts will be coming more frequently (one can dream:)

Mary

You know who I think about a lot?
Mary.

I mean this with the utmost respect and reverence. Mary is one of my heroes.
I know the popular phrase is "What would Jesus do?"
But personally, I often think, "What would Mary do?"

I wonder what kind of mother she was to Jesus when he was young. Was he a typical boy when he was two years old? How did she discipline him? Was she confident in her ways or did she ever doubt whether she was a good mother or not? Did she ever cry from "mommy guilt"? Did she ever get frustrated or frazzled? Did she ever long for "me" time?

When I reach the end of my rope, I think, "What would Mary have done with little Jesus in this situation?" Sometimes, I wish Mary had penned the second "Guide to Parenting". I know God wrote the first, but sometimes I wish I knew more about the practical ways Mary raised Jesus.

Raising a boy is clearly way out of my league. 80% of the time I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. The other 20%...I'm so busy cleaning up after his messes (physical, mental and emotional) that I'm not thinking at all. Just praying for strength.
I don't want you to think that Will is a bad kid. In fact, most people think he's fairly well behaved and sweet. But I'm his mother, and I am with him all of the time...not just when he's on his best behavior.

Take this morning for instance. Everything was going pretty smoothly. Breakfast was fed and the kids were playing. I was trying to write some emails when Will walked up to me and I noticed that horrible smell.

Me: Will, do you have poop?
W: Uh-huh
Me: Ok, lay down. (As I unbuttoned his little short overalls I noticed that they were soaking wet. Oh, and there was NO DIAPER on him) Will! Where is your diaper????!!!??
W: ummm...
I wiped what was left off of him and went looking for the bomb. I found a little trail of poopoo leading back to where he and Mallory were playing. (then my blood pressure started climbing)Me: You've got to be kidding me!

There were little poops all over the kitchen floor and carpet. I also found a yellow wet spot on the carpet where Will had been playing. Oh, and I found the poop filled diaper. My morning went from peaceful to stressful in about 1 minute. I started barking out orders to both kids to bring me various cleaning tools, chemicals and trash bags. My schedule for the day suddenly included mopping the kitchen floor and scrubbing the carpet. Neither of which did I have a very happy heart about. I ordered the kids to go upstairs and leave me alone so I could clean up the disgusting mess.

In the middle of my cleaning I began to think about Mary. Did anything like this every happen to her? What would she have said? Would she have freaked out and gotten angry like I did? Would she have yelled at Jesus? Would she have spanked him? I wish I knew. I wish I had her on the phone to calm me down and say something to the effect of, "He will turn out wonderfully. Despite the daily, or even hourly, chaos he will grow up to love God."

Then, I started thinking silly things. Like, is Mary watching me now? Is she giggling at my obsession with the moment? After all, she has perspective that I don't have. Is she thinking, "Well, if you had dirt floors, you probably wouldn't have gotten so upset." I can't wait to meet her someday. And, honestly, that is what keeps me going a lot of the time. I can't give up and give in to the devil's temptations. I have to control my temper and force myself to be at peace. I have to force my thoughts to focus on God and what he wants of me instead of dwelling on the tyranny of the moment.

I want to get to heaven someday, for a lot of reasons, one of which is to talk to Mary. And hug her.

He's lucky that he's just so irresistibly cute!


A rare moment of peace

Just two new

Two new layouts, but I can really only take credit for the first one.

This one was created by someone else, and I just added pictures and words.

Sweet Sunshine Black & Blue

New layouts. That's all.