Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Wordless Wednesday--Hope at six weeks


Wordless Wednesday--twins separated at birth?



Harmony and her friend Emi were born on the same day, at the same hospital, and were even the only two babies there at the time...I'm sure when they're old enough to know about books like The Parent Trap they'll wonder if they were switched at birth...

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Wordless Wednesday--Christmas eve

The kids said since I make them fancy cakes for their birthday, Jesus should have one too:


Harmony's Santa letter (I told her to say something about her year, and she said the family stuff unprompted...melts my heart!)

Monday, December 22, 2008

Harmony funny

This morning, while getting a Hello Kitty spoon to go with her Strawberry Shortcake bowl:

Harmony: Mom, what do you get when you put Strawberry Shortcake and Hello Kitty together?
Me: What?
Harmony: Friends!
Me: That's nice.
Harmony: What do you get when you put Henry and me together?
Me: Siblings?
Harmony: No, a disaster!

(Actually, they played together nicely, with minimal arguing requiring our intervention and lots of laughter, for several hours yesterday--that was quite the Christmas gift!)

Melodic Monday--Light the Advent Candle

Henry picked up this song on Sunday, despite coloring and looking like he wasn't paying attention while it was being sung. We lit the advent candles every day during advent while I was a kid. We're not quite so diligent, but the kids have enjoyed it the days we've done it.

Light the Advent candle one.
Now the waiting has begun
We have started on our way
Time to think of Christmas Day.

CHORUS:
Candle, candle burning bright,
shining in the cold winter night
Candle, candle burning bright
Fill our hearts with Christmas light.

Light the Advent candle two
Think of humble shepherds who
Filled with wonder at the sight
Of the child on Christmas night.

CHORUS

Light the Advent candle three
Think of heavenly harmony
Angels singing "Peace on Earth"
At the Blessed Saviour's birth.

CHORUS

Light the Advent candle four
Think of joy forevermore
Christ Child in a stable born
Gift of love that Christmas morn.

CHORUS

Light the Christmas candle now
Sing of donkey, sheep and cow
Birthday candles for the King
Let the alleluias ring.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Thankful Thursday: Timing

This week I'm glad that God has great timing:

Romans 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

This week, God's timing was totally apparent in Henry's life. His Winter Program was scheduled to be Monday night. Mammaw was very disappointed that she was unable to attend, as she's recovering from a perforated colon (from a colonoscopy--another praise, her recovery!). Well, Monday afternoon the weather turned blustery, so they postponed the program to January...and now Mammaw can attend.

Today, Henry was scheduled to get some fillings at the dentist...during his class's Christmas present from his teachers, a special in-class breakfast party. Once again, the weather to the rescue--there was a two hour delay (which would have been enough for him to make it to the party) AND the dentist called and cancelled. (Unfortunately it was minutes after I got him out of bed early to eat some breakfast before the "no eat zone" began...but I got to go back to bed :))

Not just one, but two times where God stepped in to bless Henry with his timing.

Jesus even confirms that God had a right time for him to die--John 7:6 says "Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come..." I'm so thankful we get to celebrate his perfectly timed arrival.

It gives me confidence that although I don't always immediately agree with God's timing, it IS perfect, and all works together for good in the end.

And I'm glad he died for the ungodly, because that's definitely me.

And speaking of timing, I need to go to bed. For more Thankful Thursday, visit Iris.

Wordless Wednesday

Well, it's barely still Wednesday, but here are some pictures from our Great Cookie Caper on Saturday...








Monday, December 15, 2008

Yeah, what she said!

We had a great weekend, especially at the Great Cookie Caper. Jen wrote about it, so read what she had to say! The picture of Samuel and Hope is really cute :) If I have time today, I'll add my pictures here--it was definitely a blast, and it's so nice to have Christmas baking done (at least round one :))

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Thankful Thursday

This week I'm thankful for:
--giving birth in our newly redone hospital maternity ward
--supportive friends and family who have showered us with gifts, especially yummy meals
--Time off from my job, though I still have work to do (enough to keep my mind busy)

And I'm most thankful for a baby born two thousand years ago, in an unsterile barn, who was probably shunned by his family and friends for being born out of wedlock (though some random strangers from both near and far brought priceless gifts to pay for their soon journey to a far off land...)

Share your thanks with Iris!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

It's been a great day!

Hope slept for 5 hours (in a row!) last night.
I got a shower.
I went to work for about an hour.
I'm wearing pants that button and zip.
Somebody else made dinner.

What else could I ask for?? :) It's a good day indeed!

Link love

I'm not good at one handed typing, so instead of my own thoughts, here are some cool posts by others:
Pastot Steven Furtick: Let them walk

A Misfit toy? by Lara O'Brian (sorry not a direct link--Dec 10ths devotion

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Top Ten Tuesday: Christmas traditions

Thanks to Mindy!

10. "Let it Snow" by the Blenders--polenesian style. Hilarious! (Jonell, you'd even like it :)--track 3 on the link)
9. Watching the Grinch that Stole Christmas and Charlie Brown's Christmas
8. Playing Santa (I've always been the one to stuff the stockings, ever since I graduated from high school)
7. Eating Robatsa (chinese dumpling soup that my grandfather ate as a child) on Christmas eve
6. Setting up the nativity set my aunt made for me
5. Christmas concerts--I still get choked up every time I hear O Come all ye faithful
4. Making traditional cookies like sandbaskels and krumkaka
3. Lefse, hot off the grill
2. Lighting the advent wreath and having special devotional time with my family
1. Candlelight service on Christmas Eve

Monday, December 8, 2008

Melodic Monday: C is for conifers by They Might be Giants

"Here come the ABC's" is one of our kids' favorite albums, and would account for Henry's nerdy knowledge of conifers...

Most with cones for seeds, most with needles for leaves
C is for conifers, my kind of trees
Large junipers and fir, spruce, cedars and pines
C is for conifers, more then five hundred kinds
If you see a Christmas tree or a stack of newspapers or a 2x4 frame of a house
It's probably made from pine trees and pine trees are conifers, that's what this song is about
Or if you see a plant in the shape of an elephant, or in the shape of a dog
It's probably a shrub, a conifer shrub pruned into that shape by someone
Most with cones for seeds, most with needles for leaves
C is for conifers, my kind of trees
Large junipers and fir, spruce, cedars and pines
C is for conifers, more then five hundred kinds

Spoken: There are so many different kinds of conifer trees.
This is just a few of them: Spruce,
Hemlocks, larch, cyprus, juniper,
Fir, Douglas fir, cedar, yew,
Pine, the dwarf conifer,
And the great California sequoia redwood.

Most with cones for seeds, most with needles for leaves
C is for conifers, my kind of trees
Large junipers and fir, spruce, cedars and pines
C is for conifers, more then five hundred kinds

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Proof that my children will be/are nerds...

On our way to Kokomo yesterday, we drove through a fairly large Christmas light display. As we approached, Henry's comment was, "Mom, they have both the conifers and non-conifer trees decorated!" Guess I better teach him the word "deciduous"...

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Hope's top ten favorite things to do

10. Poop right after mommy has changed my diaper.
9. Listen to Henry sing his version of "Lullabye" at a very loud volume.
8. Have Harmony hold me.
7. Stare at the throw on the couch.
6. Listen to the vacuum cleaner.
5. Sit in the moving chair from the Lingley's (but not moving)
4. Nurse.
3. Listen to the bathroom fan--it puts me to sleep every time.
2. Sleep between mommy and daddy.
1. Sleep ON mommy or daddy in the recliner!

Gotta love life as a baby...