clothes case

I really should have gotten a picture...

Natalie came upstairs yesterday in her chosen outfit for the day. She beamed at me, so pleased with her choice.

The jeans didn't go past her knees.

When I mentioned that maybe the jeans were too short, she said, "They're capris!"

Fine. They can be capris. Some battles just aren't worth fighting.

And she did look pretty cute.

But I knew that the jeans were too small, and I checked the size when I was putting clothes in the laundry. I was expecting them to be 3T--too small now, but worn recently enough that it made sense for her to think they'd still work.

Um, no. They were sized 18 months.

I'm stunned she got them on at all.

Apparently I need to do a better job of keeping the baby clothes I'm sorting for selling/donating away from the regular clothes. I'd have thought the difference would be obvious, but clearly it's not.

I do wish I'd gotten a picture though.

15 years

So apparently I only update this thing on big occasions. Hmm. Might have to rethink that strategy.

Today is my wedding anniversary.

15 years
2 kids
5 grandparent deaths
7 job losses, even more job changes
3 moves (thankfully all of them pretty local)
1 college degree
postpartum depression
migraines
Months and days and moments of all the minutiae that make up life.

We've crammed a lot into fifteen years.

I'm thankful for the grace, compassion, and understanding that you've shown through all the ups and downs. Happy anniversary to us!

and now we are six

So I'm a day late getting this posted (hopefully not a dollar short). But here are the obligatory birthday pictures from Natalie's birthday weekend extravaganza! 

Unfortunately the pictures are not chronological. Sorry about that.

THE CAKE. My parents bought this cake. Natalie wanted a strawberry cake. And she wanted Frozen on top. The bakery at Food City didn't have a strawberry cake with Frozen on top. But...the baker has won some sort of national competition or recognition, and she MADE IT WORK. She took the regular white birthday cake, divided it into layers, and inserted berries between the layers. The result? Exactly what Natalie wanted. It was amazing.

This arrived Saturday, from Nelson's parents. This dollhouse is HUGE. This is the kind of dollhouse little girls dream about. We are all in awe of it. Natalie says it's a doll mansion. Beautiful.

Saturday evening at my grandmother's house. Natalie loves dresses and tends to wear them on a daily basis.

Another picture from Friday at my parents' house. Natalie is modeling a new outfit from them.

Again with the modeling.

A birthday ribbon my grandmother had for Natalie. It says "Princess." She's quite pleased with this ribbon.

I really should have gotten a better shot of this. The Elsa doll was the ONE thing Natalie asked for when you pressed her for what she wanted for her birthday. She wanted Elsa. She loves her Elsa doll. (And Elsa now has a doll mansion in which to dwell, so Natalie is one happy birthday girl.) She also is quite enamored with the plush Hello Kitty and the little bunny (named Cream Puff). Those were from my aunt and uncle. They went to church with her on Sunday. (The other Hello Kitty is Sarah's, and yes, it also went to church.) 

Tonight we are doing her birthday supper, since circumstances prevented us from being able to do so last night. What's one more day in a multi-day celebration? (And please, someone explain why the spell checker think "multi-day ought to be mufti-day. What does that even mean? Do I want to know?) I can't quite believe she's six (I'd accept three or four, but six?) My girl is growing up!

snow pictures

I won't deny being a bit tired of snow and cold. 

But...It's so gorgeous. I stepped out on our deck for a few minutes. It's still and quiet and so peaceful and blanketed in pure white. The snow clinging to the evergreens makes it look like a picture on a postcard. I really wish I could do it justice, but these photos don't begin to capture it. 

winter wonderland

It started snowing yesterday, and this morning we had a gorgeous white blanket outside. The girls have been hoping for snow all winter, so they were over the moon with excitement that it was finally here. Sarah started building a snow fort and making snow angels. I dug their sled out of the shed.

As I type this, Sarah is still outside sledding. Natalie is inside, changing out of her wet clothers. Turns out she likes the idea of snow far more than the reality of snow.

I remember noticing when she was just an infant that Natalie got cold easily. Even now, she likes lots and lots of blankets piled on her bed at night. The problem she has with snow? It's cold. Within just a few minutes, she wasn't just complaining of the chill but sobbing hysterically. "The cold! It hurts!" 

So now she's in dry clothes and sipping warm milk. I don't think she'll do much more than look out the window at the snow from here on out. Bummer. (Although that's my favorite way to enjoy the snow!) 

But it is awfully pretty just looking at it. Here are some photos taken from out deck. 

You can sort of see Sarah preparing to sled down the hill in this one. 

post-holiday reflections

I actually wrote this following Christmas 2013, not 2014. But it never got posted. Perhaps writing it helped, because my perspective was much better this year--and so was my children's!

Each year, I go into the Christmas season thinking this will be the year.  This will be the year of the perfect holiday experience.  I'll procure thoughtful yet inexpensive gifts for everyone on my list.  We'll bake cookies and make ornaments and actually finish our Advent study.  Also, my children will not fight with each other, will not be selfish and greedy, will not be consumed with the stuff they're getting rather than the joy of giving and serving.  It will be peace on earth and goodwill toward men--a holy season of worship and wonder.

Somehow it never happens.  

I plan it every year.  I download the Advent studies.  I make the to-do lists and the shopping lists and the budget outline.  And it still falls apart.  

We made a few ornaments this year but no cookies.  My Christmas shopping all took place the weekend before the day itself and was rather uninspired.  We spent all of Advent being behind on our study, and we never did finish the whole thing.  My daughters longed for nearly every item they saw advertised--and a few other things to boot.  I lost my temper a few times, and we never quite achieved holiness or peace or even a whole lot of goodwill.

I am a failure at the whole perfect Christmas thing.  

However, I'm coming to see that failure as the most perfect Christmas celebration of all.  

For Christians, this holiday is the remembrance of God himself taking on human flesh and coming to this world as a baby.  Did he come to perfect people or perfect circumstances?  No.  His native country was under foreign control.  His parents were in a strange town and had no place to stay.  A manger subbed as his baby bed.  

And why did he come in the first place?  Was it because we were all such decent folk?  Such a joy to be around?  No.  He came to save us from our sins.  He came to keep the law we could not keep and to be the perfection we could never attain.  

Each time I flop and fail and scramble, I am reminded I am not perfect.  I will never be perfect.  But there is One who is perfect on my behalf.  He bestows on me his righteousness (now there's a perfect Christmas gift).  And he meets me in all of my shortcomings because this is the very reason he came.  

So take heart if your own Christmas was less than perfect.  Let it remind you that it doesn't have to  be--and even more importantly, you don't have to be.  Even today, the Christ Child comes to dirty feeding troughs and cluttered homes and harried people.  When we don't quite get it all right, we can rejoice because he did.  

And in that, I find peace.  Maybe not peace on earth, but peace within my own weary heart.  

And a heart filled with peace can give goodwill toward men in the year to come.  

the eyes have it

Natalie is in kindergarten this year. We've been working on learning to read. It hasn't been going overly well. But I did finally realize that at least part of the problem was that she couldn't quite see those letters on the page. When I would ask her about a particular sound, she'd say some random thing. "No, look at the page," I'd encourage her. And suddenly she'd have the book practically up to her nose to see just what that letter on the page actually was.

So Nelson took her to the eye doctor. Sure enough, the poor kid has quite the astigmatism.

She comes by it honestly. Every time I go to an eye doctor, I have to sit through hearing about just how unusually strong my astigmatism is. Doctors tend to go on and on about it. Apparently Natalie's is about as bad.

Genetics can really stink sometimes.

Making glasses astigmatism that strong means a long wait. But today we were finally able to pick them up. She's extremely excited about them. She's also excited about being able to see the computer and the letters in books more clearly. I'm pretty excited about that too.

W

Natalie in her new glasses