One weekend.

Having just finished the Easter weekend, I can't help but be introspective about it.  It's humbling to remember that He did it for me.  That kind of love is just unfathomable.

I've been thinking a lot about what that Friday must have been like.  I know it didn't feel like a "Good Friday" to those that loved and followed Jesus back then.  What sorrow they must have felt. What defeat.

That Saturday could not have been any better.  Even though the "worst" was over, they were still reeling from the tragedy of the day before.  They didn't know that Sunday was coming.  But it did!

That weekend continues to play out in our daily lives.  Maybe you've just endured a Friday.  The sky is black and you feel hopeless.  Or maybe you're in the midst of a Saturday.  Reality is sinking in and you're desperate for good news.  Rest assured, Sunday is coming.

"Sorrow may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30:5

We do all the baskets and eggs and chocolate bunnies and pretty dresses, but our girls know why we celebrate Easter (in the most age appropriate way of course).  As a child I used to wonder why we didn't get a bunch of gifts on Easter, like we did on Christmas.  They were both "Jesus" holidays, so why does one get more attention and hoopla than the other?

As an adult, I've realized that Easter IS the biggest gift.  There's no way we could top it.  We need to just accept it, and be grateful.  How can you compete with grace?

In college as an RA, I had a student that had a plaque over her dorm room door.  It read:

"Good morning! This is God.  

Don't worry, I've already taken care of today.  

Please don't go messing it up by trying to do things yourself."

I imagine that God would add to that by saying, "By the way....I've got tomorrow covered too."

It's a good reminder for each of us. Don't worry.  But I still do.

I was worried about the girls getting into the charter school we wanted.  The week before the lottery I called to find out the exact date we would hear anything and they informed me that there were absolutely no openings in third grade.  That meant Reagan would be wait-listed regardless of the lottery.

We discussed a bunch of different scenarios if Skylar got in and Reagan did not: homeschooling, two different schools next year, taking her out mid-year if there was an opening, etc. etc. etc.  Then we prayed.

The day of the lottery we got a phone call from the school administrator.  She said "Just calling to let you know that we have a spot for Skylar in the Fall!" I started screaming and jumping up and down (in true girl fashion).  Then she went on to say, "And we've decided to make room for Reagan and increase the class size by one so that she can come here too." That's when I lost it.  Tears of joy.

God knew.  He had already taken care of it.

Why do we worry?

I know, I know...we're human.  We try but we fail again and again.  But that's ok.  God knows that too.

 Today, I'm just thankful for grace and the promise of Sunday.

Friday Funnies

It's been a while and I've been terrible at writing down the funny things the girls have been saying.
But here are a few that I DID remember (if you know me on facebook, some of these will look familiar):

************************************
Reagan overheard me talking to a friend about her 14 year old niece making poor choices. Reagan said, "what kind of poor choices is she making?"
I said, "Well, she's spending too much time with boys."
Reagan said, "Oh! Like playdates?!"
Ha! Love her innocence.
************************************
At Skylar's 5 year well child visit, the pediatrician asked her, "Do you know some of your letters Skylar?" In a very serious (and blatantly sarcastic) tone, she said, "Um, yah. I know how to read."
(Then of course the Dr. asked her what her favorite food was and she said 'hot dogs.' We never eat hot dogs!)
************************************
Reagan and Skylar were watching the lizards in our backyard one afternoon.  They do this funky "push up" move that always cracks the girls up.  Skylar said, "I wonder why they do that." Reagan answered (very matter of factly), "I bet it's because it's mating season.  He's working out to attract the females." OMG! Animal Planet is officially banned now! :)
************************************
Skylar was setting the table the other night for dinner and she gave Bailey a fork that Bailey didn't like.  She started whining that she wanted a princess fork and Skylar looked right at her and said, "You're three now Bailey.  It's time you learn how things work around here.  I get the forks.  You don't complain.  Got it?"
************************************
We were at Costco and decided to grab lunch at their food court.  There was no one in line when we got there but after we sat down with our food the line started backing up.  My mom said, "Wow, we got here at the right time. Look at all these people now."  Reagan said, "Yep. Must be happy hour."
(I wondered how in the world she knew about happy hour, but realized later that Sonic has a happy hour).
************************************
I was doing my hair one morning and Reagan walked into the bathroom.  She said "What smells like bologna?" Then she got closer to me and said, "Oh! It's you.  Well, not you, but your hair stuff.  Now I'm hungry."  Note to self....stop using that leave in conditioner. :)
************************************
Bailey was out in the garden with me last week and remarked, "Mommy, we're growing weed in our garden."
Me: "WeedSSSS, baby.  WeedZZZZ."
************************************
I was reading upstairs and Reagan walked into my room.  She said, "If you see something outside, it's just daddy.  He's really good at getting high!" (Which is even funnier considering the comment above! Don't worry, he was just hitting golf balls!).
************************************
We were at Reagan's school one morning and I saw one of her classmates.  I said, "Look Ray, there's Carson.  He's such a sweet boy."  She replied, "He's more boy than he is sweet.  He makes disgusting noises with his hand in his armpit." Ha! Gotta love growing up with just girls. :)
************************************
I was pulling weeds in the backyard yesterday and Skylar asked if she could help.  After about ten minutes of her helping, she said, "Ok, I'm done helping.  I'm going back to being a kid again." :)
************************************
After pulling weeds I came in and made pasta with spinach. While Bailey was eating, she said, "Mommy, did you put the weeds in our pasta?"
************************************
We were running at the park one afternoon and Bailey needed to go potty.  All they had were port-a-potties, and Bailey said she was too scared to use one.  So Skylar told her, "Don't be afraid Bailey.  The Bible says 'don't be scared because God is always with us.'"  I was overwhelmed with pride until she said, "So stop being such a crybaby and get over it!"

Have a great weekend!

We are that family!

Growing up there was a family in church that some might describe as "odd."  They didn't eat fast food; they didn't own a tv (and subsequently no video games); their mom made their clothes; they were homeschooled (way before it was popular); there were more than 2 kids and they all got along for the most part.  They were not the norm.

Fast forward 25 years and I find myself appreciating that odd family.

Somewhere in the last few years, we have decided that mainstream is not for us.  Just because "everyone else" does it, doesn't make it right.  Remember when your mom used to say "If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?"  Yah, the same rules apply as parents.  Thanks for that timeless wisdom, Mom. :)

We are very careful about what our girls watch on television.  Some days I'd like to chuck it out the window, but I do appreciate the quiet every once in a while.  I'm not that crazy.  The girls know what shows they are allowed to watch so when we are at a friends house, they will tell me if something inappropriate is on.

While I don't make all their clothes (I can, just choose not to), I do make sure that their clothing is age appropriate (and usually a bargain!).

We try to avoid fast food and sit together as a family each night.  We made the decision to start eating organically a couple years ago and have seen such benefits from it.  We also added vitamins, supplements and probiotics to our daily regimen so the girls are rarely sick.

We spend time outside being active.

Our girls don't always get along, but they do love each other and play well majority of the time.  We have taught them that friends will always come and go but you will always be sisters, so you might as well get along now.

We talk about thankfulness a lot in our home.  The girls take turns praying and it warms my heart to hear the things that they are thankful for.

They are precious to us.

When I was younger my mom wouldn't let me go over to a friends house because she didn't know the parents.  When I asked her why, she explained it this way: "If I had a diamond worth 5 million dollars, I wouldn't just give it to anyone to take care of.  I would choose only the most qualified, and trustworthy people to take care of it. YOU are worth far more than a five million dollar diamond to me.  So I'm not going to just let anyone take care of you." That explanation has always stuck with me.  I've already told my girls the same thing.  They may not understand how much five million is, but they understand that jewels are valuable.

Recently we have been making decisions about schooling for our girls.  We have realized we are not the norm.  Regular public school is not meeting their needs.  It's certainly not a place I want to send my precious gems to sit all day.  We don't feel called to homeschool....yet.  Private school would require a second mortgage on our home, so that's not an option either.  Our only other option is a charter school.  We've researched until our eyes are blurry.  We've toured, asked questions, filled out applications, and now we just pray and wait.

When I told Reagan's teacher about our desire to switch over to a charter, she said "That's a great option for a family like yours."

A family like ours.

Yep, we are that family.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.

She...

She is three today.

She is my baby, but doesn't like to be called a baby.  She reminds us daily that she's a "big girl" now.   Since she was our "last" I tried desperately to hang on to the babyness.  But she wanted nothing to do with it! We are a crib-free, diaper-free, baby toy (and giant gear) free house.  She is already learning to write her letters and almost has the 50 states song mastered.

She likes to do whatever her big sisters are doing.  We often hear "I do it myself!"

People tell me she looks the most like me.

She marches to the beat of her own drum (and dresses herself).

She cracks us up daily, which is good since she also tests every bit of patience we have. :)

She....

is our blessing.

Happy Birthday Baby! 

The Eyes have it.

When Skylar was a baby, people used to say "Wow she has such BIG eyes!" And she did.  She has kind of grown in to them, but they are still the largest out of all three girls.

Do you know what happens when you have beautiful BIG blue eyes?
Well, they look beautiful in shots like this:

But the drawback?

They don't close all the way when you sleep!

Freaks me out everytime!

She's lucky she's so cute when she's awake. 

Happy Friday!

Yay! 5!

There's an old episode of The Cosby Show (probably from the first season) where Rudy is sad because she is the littlest in the family.  But her mom convinces her that she is growing up each day and can already do lots of things at 5, that she couldn't do at 4.  By the end, they were both saying "Yay 5!"

Today we are saying, "Yay 5!"

Skylar is 5 today! She has already spent the morning showing me how many things she can reach, and how her feet almost hit the floor when she sits on the couch.  She is convinced that she grew a foot last night.  The funny thing is....it looks like she did.  :) I could have sworn that the jeans she is wearing today actually fit her last week.  Thank the Lord that capris are in style!

Skylar is our fearless one, but also the most tender.  She is incredibly flexible and just goes with the flow. She just doesn't get bothered by much.  She is equally as good of a big sister, as she is a little sister.

She is definitely our happy-go-lucky kid! She makes us laugh; she's quick to listen *(most days) and loves to be a helper.  We are blessed to have her in our family!

Happy Birthday sweet girl! Yay 5!

Keep on keepin' up

I keep waiting for things to slow down.  It's definitely a busy season for our family but I'm realizing more and more that life is just busy.  There's always something to do.  Somewhere to go.  What that also means is that every time I'm doing something, something else isn't getting done.  It gets easy to see the glass as half full or get overwhelmed.

"I'll never get it all done."
Nope.  You won't.

"There just isn't enough time."
Nope.  There isn't.

I find myself saying "I can't wait...." (fill in the blank).  I can't wait for summer.  I can't wait until the month runs out before the money.  I can't wait until the girls can do more chores *(ok THAT one I really can't wait for!!).

I'm learning that today won't wait.  All I can do is keep on keepin' up.
I'm learning to embrace the now.  My girls won't ever be this age again.  Ever.
I'm learning maybe I CAN wait.
God is in today.  He placed me for the here and now.  And where He is, is holy ground.
My circumstances today are holy ground.

"Worrying does not empty tomorrow of it's troubles; it empties today of it's strength."