Oh how they grow!

Wow does time go by too fast or what?  Jael is growing up so fast.  Last week she learned how to swing all by herself.  (That is, pump her legs.)  Now we don't have to stand there and push her the whole time!  She has also started to pick up the guitar she got from "Jada" when she was born, and try to play songs.  Her favorite tune to copy from daddy?  Sweet Home Alabama!  As you can see in the picture she puts her leg up on the foot rest, props her guitar on her knee and goes to town!  It's pretty funny.




Jada is sitting up really well now.  Although when she gets mad she throws herself back and hasn't quite figured out that this will result in hitting her head.  She also goes from sitting to her belly in an attempt to crawl to get something.  She hasn't figured out how to get to her hands and knees just yet but I'm sure that is in the near future.  She objects pretty strongly if you take something away from her or don't pick her up when she wants you to.  I thought she was going to be my   more relaxed child.  FALSE!  She is very stubborn.  I have started letting her yell instead of giving in to whatever she wants.  A few days ago she yelled for so long that she actually started to lose her voice.  (Notice I say yell and not cry because she yells!)  She has started to figure out that I'm not going to give in to her easily and the yelling is becoming shorter and shorter.  Night times are still rough although last night she slept for 11 hours straight without so much as a peep!  I guess letting her "cry it out" for a couple hours at night is starting to pay off.

Have you heard of resurrection eggs?   If not, they are Easter Eggs that tell the story of Jesus.  There are 12 eggs each containing a small object to help describe the Easter Story.  Here's a picture.

We got these for Jael for Easter and she loves telling us the story of Jesus.  The problem is, she doesn't quite have it right yet.  So if you haven't heard the story of Jesus, I am about to tell you the real story and then Jael's version.

Dark Blue Egg- (A donkey) "In Jesus' day, most people walked everywhere.  Some-times, kings rode on donkeys or horses when they entered a city.  The people would stop what they were doing and watch as the king rode by.  On the day that Jesus rode into their city (Jerusalem), the people were thrilled to see Him.  they believed that He was their new king who had come to save them and to fill their lives with Joy."

Jael's Version-  "Jesus rode a donkey."

Light Pink Egg- (3 Coins)  "Not everyone was happy to have Jesus as their king...Some only pretended...one of those pretenders was Judas Iscariot.  Other men hated Jesus so much that they wanted to kill Him.  But they needed the help of someone who could get them close to Jesus.  Because Jesus was a pretender, and because he was greedy for money, he told the men he would help capture Jesus if they would pay him thirty silver coins."

Jael's Version-  "I don't know what the money is for."  (She can't seem to remember this one)

Light Purple Egg- "Cup"  "Jesus had a special dinner with His disciples.  During the meal Jesus stood up and held out a cup and gave everyone a drink.  He said that the wine was (a symbol of) his blood.  He wanted them to remember this special night and the promise He was making to them and to all people."

Jael's Version-  "The cup is to drink coffee out of."

Dark Orange Egg-  (Praying Hands)  "After the dinner with His disciples, Jesus took them to a garden.  He asked them to pray while He went to another place in the garden to talk to God alone.  He began to be sad and to dread what He knew was going to happen soon.  He was going to die."

Jael's Version- "The praying hands are to chew on."

Dark Green Egg- (Whip)  "When Jesus was finished praying in the garden, the men who wanted to kill Him took him as their prisoner.  They brought Jesus to Pilate, their ruler, and he had Jesus whipped.  The whip used was long and hard and it hurt Jesus so much that He bled."

Jael's Version-  "They hit Jesus with the whip."

Yellow Egg- (Crown of Thorns)  "After Jesus had been whipped, the soldiers took branches with thorns, twisted them into the shape of a crown, and shoved it down on Jesus' head.  Again, Jesus bled."

Jael's Version-  "They put the crown on Jesus' head." (She puts the crown on her head).  "It doesn't hurt my head".

Orange Egg- (Nails in the Cross)  "The soldiers made Jesus carry a heavy wooden cross to the top of a hill. Using nails much larger than these, they nailed him to the cross, which must have hurt very much.  He died a few hours later."

Jesus' Version-  "They put Jesus on the cross."

Dark Purple Egg- (Die)  "While Jesus was dying on the cross, they played a game to decide who would take His clothes".  

Jael's Version-  "The die is used to play games.  Lets pay one!"

Dark Purple Egg- (Spear)  "To make sure Jesus had died one of the soldiers stabbed Jesus in the side with a spear."

Jael's Version-  "They poked Jesus in the side with the spear."

Light Blue Egg- (Linen Cloth)  "After Jesus died, a man named Joseph asked if he could bury him.  This was a brave and loving thing for Joseph to do.  Joseph believed that he was the Son of God and he wanted Jesus to have a proper burial.  Joseph wrapped the body of Jesus in cloth and buried Him in a tomb cut out of rock, like a shallow cave."

Jael's Version-  "They used the cloth to wipe Jesus' bottom."  (Hmmmm not quite Jael)

Dark Pink Egg- (Stone)  "The stone that was rolled in front of Jesus' tomb was much bigger than the stone in the egg.  It was as big as a door and probably weighed more than a car."

Jael's Version-  "The stone is used to play hop scotch."

White Egg- (Empty)  "When two women came tot he tomb of Jesus, they were surprised.  The heavy stone was rolled aside and the tomb was empty.  Jesus' body was not there.  The angel told them "He has risen."  Jesus had come back to life.  This was the promise that Jesus made to His disciples at their special dinner a few days before-that He would die but come back to life to show those who believed in Him that they would live forever, too.  Someday, because He died for us, we can meet Him and thank Him in heaven.  That's the story of Easter, and it's true!"

Jael's Version-  "It's empty because He's alive!"  (She says with excitement!)

Happy Mother's Day!

So I haven't posted in a while.  It's Mother's Day and I have a few quiet minutes to update.  First let me say to my mom and mother-in-law, you are two of the best women I know!  Thank you for all you have done and do!  I'm sorry it takes a special day to make sure you know that you are appreciated.  We should let you know every day!

I just love being a mom.  There are certainly days that are harder than others but it is by far the most rewarding thing I have done to date.  What's so rewarding you ask?  I am doing my best to raise Godly women who will impact the Kingdom of God.  Does it get more rewarding then that?

Now for an update:  We had a great time in Florida.  Luke attended the Exponential conference while the girls and I stayed with our dear friends Sean and Miranda.  We got to end our trip with Kyle, Callie and Landyn which is ALWAYS a blast!

Luke's dad came home with us following Florida and his mom came on Tuesday.  We had a great week with them and as always Jael hated to say goodbye.  Fortunately we get to see them again when they come as reinforcements while Luke is in Africa.  The pictures are from the Baltimore Zoo.

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like a Sponge

Jael is such a little sponge.  She soaks up everything we say and do and copies it!  For example, while waiting in the drive through at Starbucks (I needed a chai tea to get through the day) she says "Mom, what on earth is taking so long?"  Of course she heard that from me at some point!

Or when she is watching the neighborhood kids out of our back door and she scolds them for misbehaving.  "Kids you need to stop that!"

Now typically she copies all of the things about myself that I completely hate.  She will copy something I say or do.  She'll scold me as I scold her.  "Mom if you don't stop doing that I'm going to send you to your room for time out".  Or when she is doing something that frustrates her and she pounds the ground and says "dang it!"  (Oops!)

This is a funny one, even though she wasn't copying me because I don't say it.  She's sitting and playing and she says "shut up".  I said "Jael Renee you do not use those words.  They are not nice.  Where did you hear those?"  She says,  "In the Bible story at Church".  Haha Obviously the words Shut Up are not Biblical.

But that leads me to the one thing she copies that I am so glad for.  She sits down with her little pink Bible and pretends to have Bible Studies.  She will copy Luke or I and say  "Please be quiet I'm trying to read my Bible."  If only she would copy all of the things we do right instead of what we do wrong!

(In this picture she actually has her Bible upside down! Haha)

FLY lady

I don't know about you but I am slightly OCD when it comes to housecleaning.  Everything needs to be clean and organized for me to be able to relax.  Unfortunately having 2 kids makes it hard to keep up with everything I would like to keep up with.  I was expressing this frustration with a friend of mine and she suggested www.flylady.net.  It is fabulous!  Luke thinks it's hilarious but I find it extremely helpful and freeing!  It can be used by anyone (whether you love or hate cleaning) and it's FREE.    

One of many parts of the website is establishing a "Control Journal"  (Insert Luke's laugh here).  But it's very helpful!  You establish a Morning, Afternoon and Evening routine.  Also, your home is separated into zones so each zone in your house gets deep cleaned once a month but throughout the week you are picking up and doing light cleaning.  

Maybe you too will look at the website and think I'm a huge dork but maybe you will love it like me!

(A side note, she encourages you to establish a day that you sit down with your husband and synchronize calenders and establish what meals you need for the week.  A great website I found is  RecipeMatcher.com.  You can put in what ingredients you already have and it finds recipes for you!)

Accidents Happen

On Thursday Jael was running into the house from being outside and tripped on the door frame.  She caught herself with her left hand and cried pretty hard.  I called Luke to come home and check it out to see if she needs to get an x-ray.  He came home and she passed all the tests so we decided to wrap it in an ace bandage.  Friday she was running around and fell against her wrist.  It was pretty painful for her.  Then Saturday morning she fell again, not even on her wrist but it was still painful for her.  We decided to take her to urgent care for an x-ray.  The doctor did an exam and didn't feel as though it was broken but decided to do an x-ray to be safe.  Sure enough she has a buckle fracture in her wrist.  Apparently this is a common fracture in kids.  It tends to happen when they fall on it with their arm extended (exactly what she did on Thursday).  She's got a hard cast that can be removed and adjusted that she has to wear for 3 weeks.  We have to take her to see an orthopedic doctor as well.  She is a trooper!

Driving

I am one of two types of driver on any given day.  I'm either in a hurry or not.  Yesterday I was in a hurry.  I had 45 minutes to get to Target, buy toilet paper, baby food and milk and get home for Luke to be able to get to a wedding rehearsal.  So as you can imagine I was behind the slowest driver on the planet on the way there and then the person I followed home set a new record for the slowest driver in the world.  I honked my horn and followed closely all the while thinking "what is wrong with this person??  DRIVE FASTER!  I GOTTA GET HOME!"

Now lets back up a few days.  I'm out with the kids planning to hit a few stores but really in no rush.  As I'm driving down the road going the speed limit a car comes up fast behind me and decides to ride my tail.  How dare they put my children and me in danger by riding my bumper!  Is getting to their destination really that important??  So what do I do?  I slow down even more!

As I'm thinking about this I am reminded of something I heard on Dr. Phil once.  (No I don't watch Dr. Phil but I happened to hear this one time!)  He was doing a show about road rage and he states something along the lines of:  How dare you drive around as if your schedule is most important.  That we should all do exactly what you want us to do to in order to make your life more convenient.  How arrogant can you be?  Ouch!

So there it is.  I'm arrogant.  I want everyone to do what I want them to do when I want them to do it.  The moral of the story?  Give yourself plenty of time to get to and from your destination so you aren't ticked when you hit delays and get out of the way of all the other arrogant drivers out there!