handsful

It’s birthday party time for our Lainey-girl and it’s a Princess theme…she was instructed to come all dressed up, so we obliged.

She found this gown in the dress up box. It’s got some age, but she couldn’t care less. This has been through Abbey and Marley, so I love that she’s now wearing it.

I made the mistake of telling Lainey about the party a week ago. She’s talked nearly non-stop about it since then.

How many night nights till the party?? What should I wear??? Which princess should I be?? When can we go shopping for her present?? Can we wrap her present now??? How many night nights again??

I’ve learned my lesson. She’ll get maybe a 2 day heads-up next time.

It was raining tonight, so Payton whisked her to the van quickly. Asian hair curls just fine, but it doesn’t stay too long and I worried the rain/humidity would immediately straighten it!

When I picked her up, her curls were just about gone but her smile wasn’t. She had a wonderful time being treated like a princess.

Our very own goofy Princess Lainey

* Since I’m off FB for awhile, I’m noticing that status’ pop into my head regularly. A sign I was on it too much? Perhaps. But, I can honestly say I’ve not missed it like I thought I would.

* Chocolate and tea, I’m missing. In the mornings, I’m substituting hot water with fresh squeezed lemon and a little sugar. It’s not bad, but it’s not my tea.

* Payton and I also did a Daniel Fast together last week for 3 days. No meats, dairy, preservatives, breads, or sugars. We survived on things like brown rice, fruits, veggies, natural peanut butter, nuts and lots of water. In the future, we’ll spend more time preparing for it so we can pull together some tastier recipes. It was a humbling experience, helping us realize how spoiled we are with the huge variety of foods that are readily available to us. My rumbling stomach reminded me to thank God for his love and provision. And, it also helped to stretch both of us a bit, in finding foods that we wouldn’t normally eat – some of which are new favorites (have you tried the 100% fruit leathers at Trader Joes?!?)

In other news…

* Sometimes a GPS doesn’t even know where it’s going, which is bad for this directionally-challenged mom.

* I need about a week with NOTHING to do so I can catch up on all the books I’ve started and not finished. Like that’s gonna happen…

* Just when you think you have all your ducks in a row, they suddenly all break out of line. Last Wednesday was one of those days.

* Today was a good day for the ducks.

* I’m stretched thin most days, with a crammed full schedule. But, I love my life.

* Waiting is hard, I don’t care who you are.

* But, the wait can be extremely rewarding. More on this soon ;)

The youth pastor at church asked if we’d host a middle school event at our house. We said yes.

About 20 teens ~ board games, snacks, polar bear antics, charades, and football

Here’s the day ~ in pictures

We love hanging out with these teens…

Before we headed home from FL last week, we had to make a quick stop to have breakfast with friends.

Dylan’s BFF, Hope, lives in Orlando so we met at a breakfast place to eat, talk, and hang out with friends we all wish lived closer (hint, hint Amy…)

In the past, Hope has been a little hesitant about hugging Dylan, but this time she met us at the door (after her mom said she called out “it’s my Dylan!”) and gave him an immediate squeeze. Suhweet!

Dylan grudgingly ate most of his breakfast quickly, and then headed off the play. They were all over that play place.

There were lots of requests for posing…

Even for the moms, in this shamefully blurry photo.

Despite the approximately 9 hours between us, we WILL find ways to get these kiddos together…every chance we get. :)

Dog crate in family room (not usually…)
Kids find a creative use for metal rings and clippies
Timed to see how long it takes them to get out
Marley doesn’t let playtime keep her from finishing her writing assignment

I walked in on this one
Payton was involved with the making of it…surprise

I love my crazy kids

Our church, each year, encourages us to join in corporate fasting. Last year, we had only been home from China for about 3 weeks…jetlag was only slightly a thing of the past, we were still getting used to being a family of 8, I couldn’t even begin to think of adding something new.

But, when I heard about it this year, something clicked…I felt called to this, as I never had before. But, how? And, what? Fasting isn’t just giving up food for a set time period, but it’s the process of giving up food (or some other “idol” that’s taking your time away from God) for a spiritual purpose. It takes your focus away from worldly comforts, and puts your focus on God…hunger for food is replaced with hunger for God. The bible talks about “when we fast” (Matthew 6), not “if we fast”. My goal is to grow closer to God, be more aware and intent on listening to God, and spend more time with God.

This past Sunday, our pastor talked about having idols in our lives. Not gold covered cow statues, but things that steal time away from the time we would be giving to God in bible study, prayer, etc. TV, internet, hobbies, even other people can be idols in our lives.

When I decided to join in this fast, I prayed and asked for clarity as to WHAT to fast. I came up with these…

Facebook – chocolate – hot tea

Ouch. I’ve felt for a while now that FB absolutely takes up so much time. Even if you’re just “checking it”, you can get sucked into reading the news feed, watching a video, clicking over to an article…and, suddenly you’ve been sitting there an hour. I’m going to miss it, I won’t lie. But, I’m glad I’m doing it.

Chocolate? I mine as well give up breathing. That’s enough about that.

And, I just got a new Keurig and boxes and boxes of lovely new teas to try. Which I can’t drink till January 30th. Hot tea in the morning is as routine for me as coffee is to most. Yep, I’ll miss it. But, that’s part of the point, right? The bible talks about bringing a sacrifice of praise to God. Sometimes we don’t feel like praising…it’s been a rotten day, we’re sad about a situation, etc. We choose to praise, even on the bad days. It’s a sacrifice to make that choice to be joyful when we feel no joy. Sacrificing comforts is a sign of our complete trust and dependence on God, despite how loud our stomach growls or how much we’re craving chocolate.

I’m still in prayer over anything else I might do…a short, 3-day Daniel fast maybe? More on that later, if I go that route. We discussed it with the kids, and they’ve all chosen things to sacrifice, too. I loved Lainey and Dylan’s, which they came up with on their own. Lainey is giving up hot chocolate (she loves it…) and Dylan is giving up whining. Ha!

Expect me to be HERE more than usual, since FB is off limits. Oh, and today is Day 1. In case you’re keeping track along with me. ;)

At least that’s what we eventually decided.

Abbey’s good friend from Florida, Angelina, invited her to go to Disney with her family to celebrate her 16th birthday. At first we thought “how do we GET her there”? It’s a long way to FL, and it seemed a waste to have Randy drive her there and back by himself.

So, we ended up making it a quick family vacation to Magic Kingdom. Dylan’s first time, Lainey’s second, who knows what time for the rest of us. We had yearly passes when we lived in Jax, and took advantage of that quite well.

We arrived Thursday night, big kids had a quick swim in the heated outdoor pool, and then we all headed to bed. After a quick breakfast at the hotel on Friday, Angelina’s family picked up Abbey and we all headed to the park.

It was odd, having just 5 kids with us…the group shots are missing something! Or someone.

They still had their Christmas decorations up, and were playing Christmas music. We were told it was the last day for that…

Payton’s favorite attraction

Obviously…same shot we took back in April 2010! I think he’s changed the most since our last Disney trip.

Zurg captured Dylan!

Tea Cup ride…given my dislike for anything that spins (and knowing full well that Randy would spin it as FAST as he possibly could), I took pictures.

Payton does a perfect Stitch voice, so he and the blue guy had a conversation.

I think Lainey has gotten over her fear of characters…finally.

January 2012

April 2010

He almost got it!

I caught the boys doing a little dance to polka music.

Then, Randy found a friend in the Haunted Mansion graveyard. Will the goofiness ever end?

This wall played music when you touched the different instruments…very cool!

Sadly…

I must…

post all…

of the stocks pictures.

And, then it was nighttime.

Electric parade :)

Then, we headed up to Main Street for the fireworks… The castle was so pretty, draped in Christmas lights!

Yes, there’s a big bush in front of the castle. We did the best we could to find a spot to watch. Apparently, everyone in the free world was at Disney that day. So much for lower crowds in January!

The fireworks were put to music…it was really beautiful.

Finally met up with Abbey! Her and Angelina have been great friends for years, I’m glad to see that hundreds of miles haven’t changed that.

All 6, together at last. It was a fun, hectic, incredible, exhausting day. Disney, you really know how to throw a party.

We crashed at the hotel Friday night, and got back on the road the next day. But, not before meeting up with some special friends of ours in Orlando. Pictures of that next…