Bubba Benjamin

What a character! There is no lack of personality when it comes to my second child! Whether it is poking his brother's nose, exploring new toys, or just hanging out, Benjamin is an endless source of entertainment! And what an affectionate child! He loves to snuggle on the couch (he even asks to snuggle with me!) and he gives kisses smack on the mouth. Oh how I love my little big man!

(In case you were wondering, this is called constructive procrastination--I still need to pack!!)

Can you see me?

Have you watched the first Home Alone movie? Do you remember the chaos in the house the night before they all flew to France? That's me. Right now. As I type this. In less than 12 hours I will be in the airport. If you only knew what had to be finished first....

It's Christmas!! I'm going HOME!!!! Where it is WARM!! And there are fresh Krispy Kreme donuts and delicious Chick-fil-A sandwiches! Where I get to be with my mom and my kids can play with their grandparents! HOME!!!! YIPPY!!!

Passion for the Poor?

As bloggers, we write about the things we are passionate about. Obviously, I'm passionate about my kids :) With Christmas here and the economic condition being what it is, God is increasing my passion for the poor. And with that passion comes a short blog. There is a need in all of our lives to constantly monitor how God has blessed us and how we are using those blessings. It is easy to think that if we give 10% we are being obedient. If we give 10% of gross income we think we are doing better, and if we give more than 10% then we must really be generous people. I wish it were that easy. I wish there was a magic equation that we could plug numbers into and come out with a "correct" amount to give. But God didn't give us a formula. Instead, the New Testament measure of giving is "give as I have given you." I struggle with having this kind of heart. I want to give a little extra at Christmas--some toys to Toys for Tots or a tag on the Angel Tree. But what happens when I find out that in Great Falls there are over 500 people in the Rescue Mission and at the beginning of this week the Rescue Mission only had a gift for 1/4 of them. What is to be my response? What is to be yours?

Do you know of needs in your community? If so, are you trying to meet them, even if it requires creativity? If you don't know of the needs, are your eyes open to see them? Or are you looking at your Christmas to-do lists, the school programs, cookies, present wrapping, and carol singing?

God wants to pour into our hearts and lives so that we overflow into the lives of others. Take a chance--give someone a note this year that says that the money for their present went to the Rescue Mission to a homeless child. Or don't buy yourself something. Or take some of your presents to the Rescue Mission instead of keeping them yourself. You may give a smile to someone who is living a life of despair and give yourself the gift of freedom.

Hooray! It's Levi!

Poor Levi. Jeremy downloaded pics the other day and it had been two weeks since I had taken shots of my little man! I recommitted myself to documenting his little life, so here you go! He weighed 13 lbs 9oz in the hospital three weeks ago, so I'm guessing he is around 15 lbs right now. He was three months old last Thurday, and is almost in 6-9 month clothes! The best part is that he is sleeping through the night. He is going 10 hours at night between feedings and nursing every 4 hours during the day. (He nurses a bit more often in the evening to tank himself up for the long stretch, which doesn't bother me at all!) Hannah and Benjamin never blessed me like that :) he loves his playmat and giggles at the star in the middle of it. He is a very happy little guy and is all smiles at his brother and sister. And he'll have his first plane ride in just four days!!

Craft time

We were challenged in church to pick an area of our lives that we need to "invest" in rather than "indulging." I know it is a sickness, but I found I have been "indulging" in cleaning my house and finishing things on the ever-growing to-do list. So I stopped indulging and started investing in my kids. We spend almost 1.5 hours a day doing craft time at their little table. They love it (of course) and God is rewarding my efforts by giving me kids who are actually obeying me. The number of spanking for disobedience and disrespect have decreased dramatically! So, if you call my house before 10am, this is what we will look like on the other end!

Playing in their "house"

I'm always in need of a creative way of keeping the kids busy while I nurse Levi. Last week, I turned the pack-n-play on its side, put the botton of the pack-n-play on the floor, threw in their favorite blankets, pillows, and bears, and they played "house." For thirty minutes. That's a LONG TIME for my kids to do any one thing!

2008 Family PIctures

These were taken when Levi was two weeks old. I love them :) Thank you, Christel!

New hooks

I'm all about function. Look at these fabulous hooks I got at Target!! Only 20 hooks :) I can hang all of our stuff when we come in from going to church--it's awesome!

Thanksgiving Collage

On the list of the many things I want to do is to actually learn how to use my upgrade to Picasa. The pictures of this are small, but it was easy to create. Here's our Thanksgiving day! We had 16 "big" people, five "littles" and Levi. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun!!

Levi's hospital stay

We didn't manage to get the camera to the hospital when he was only in a diaper with the IV tubes, heart monitor cords, and oxygen cord. But just the IV is sad to look at! It was quite the weekend, and I'm so thankful that our children have been (and are) healthy and that trips to the hospital are an unusual thing in our lives. It is easy to sit in the hospital room and have a lot of sympathy for people who are there a lot.

The best picture ever!

Don't you think?