Palm Sunday Snow

The weatherman was right.  I really thought he was crazy when he said that we were going to have more than 6 inches of snow the second to last weekend of March.  There have been crazier things, but this is not the norm, even in Missouri.  We tried to get all of our errands done yesterday so that today we would just be able to stay home in the event that the forecast came to fruition.  Alas it did, and boy am I thankful we heeded the warnings.  We did venture out to church this morning, but the drive home confirmed that the plan to stay at home today was a good one.  The snow has been coming down consistently since about 9 this morning.  We are probably nearing 7 or 8 inches right now, and it isn't supposed to let up for another 7 or 8 hours. 

While we did have another big snow this winter and a couple of smaller ones, we hadn't been able to convince Audrey to go out and play in it.  Today, however, the allure overcame her dislike of the cold.  Audrey took several turns down the hill in our back yard on her sled. She only fell off once, and she didn' teven seem to mind. 

 

 

We took Barrett out for a couple of minutes, but he got dumped off the sled and was done with it after that.  It was his naptime anyway though. 

I think the dogs enjoyed the snow more than anyone else.  They ran around the yard, sniffed the snow, and tried to catch the snowballs that we were throwing.  Here are some snapshots of the experience.

 

Growing so Fast

Both of my children are growing so fast.  Barrett is in that stage where every day he is doing something new.  Just last week, he started waving, walking with push toys, and saying several new words.  He can now say da-da, ma-ma, ah-duh (Audrey), ba-ba, ba (ball), ub (up), hi, and doh (dog).

In the meantime, Audrey surprises me every day by the thoughts she shares with me.  She had a rough day last Friday, and was crying hysterically when I picked her up from school.  She was in trouble because she hit a friend with a lego, because she did not agree with her block placement.  She did not like that she was in trouble, and let everyone know it.  We had a chat when we got home, and since then she has been talking about how God loves everyone, and she loves all of her friends, even though they are mean sometimes.  She has also been telling me at least twice a day that she loves me.  It is so sweet.  I will never get tired of hearing her say, "Mommy.  I love you."  I also have to mention that Audrey also started making her bed all by herself last week.  We'd been helping her and showing her what to do, but I went into her room one day last week to help her, and the bed was already made.  Now we're working on putting our dishes by the sink after meals :)

Here are some videos of the two of them playing.  The second one is another trick Barrett learned.  If he crawls with the dogs' squeaky toy, it squeaks and the dogs chase him. 

Peaks and Valleys

Moving is stressful.  Moving with two young children can bring you to the verge of insanity.  Even that, however, has been a process full of ups and downs.  It amazes me how in the same day I can be on the top of the world at one moment and in a pit of despair just hours later.  A few weeks ago on a Saturday, I had one of those days.  A good friend of mine (thanks Nancy!) watched both of my children while I went to get my hair cut since Billy was out of town.  On top of that, we got out the door on time, and I had even managed to do two loads of laundry and clean bottles by that time as well.  The day continued to go swimmingly after that; both children took good naps, leaving me 1.5 uninterrupted hours, during which time I was able to get started on our taxes after completing the other item on my to do list.

By the time I went to bed that Saturday, it was 11 pm. I was so completely exhausted both physically and mentally that I couldn’t even cry.  What happened?  First, I realized that we did not save enough money to cover what we owe on our income taxes.  Then, my dog ate potting soil, which did not agree with her stomach or my white carpet (right where you walk into the living room, naturally).  I still haven’t figured out where she got the potting soil, because our plants were all still intact and there was no soil on the floor.  Nonetheless, I spent the next 2 hours on my hands and knees trying to get three black spots out of the carpet. 

It seems like that has been the way everything is going lately.  Constant ups and downs.  Barrett is sick. Barrett is healthy, but Audrey is sick.  Audrey is healthy physically, but forgot how to behave while she was sick.  Audrey is behaving, but the dog is eating potting soil.  Oh, wait, now I am sick.  Seriously?!  Can I get a break! 

If you aren’t laughing at me right now, you’re probably rolling your eyes.  I know these are not the big problems in life.  When you look at the whole picture, we really have it pretty good.  God has blessed us in so many ways.  But in that moment, it is sometimes hard to take that perspective.  Ok, 95% of the time, I don’t take that perspective.  It is so easy to get caught up in my own little world and forget about everything outside of my immediate view.  It is much harder to remember that this life is not about my comfort and happiness.  I know I need to focus on serving God and fulfilling his purpose for my life, but when I have so many more immediate demands on my time such as dressing, feeding, and bathing the children; dressing, feeding, and bathing myself; keeping up with laundry and house cleaning; completing work for my job.  As I write that list, I am struck by how small all of those things are, yet somehow they demand all of my time. 

The Bible instructs us to serve God by doing everything that we do for his glory.  That includes all of the seemingly insignificant daily tasks that I do every day, even cleaning up after sick children and dogs. I may not be converting the masses to Christianity or helping the needy in a third-world country, but I can bring God glory by being a good wife, mother, employee, boss, daughter, and friend.  Even that can be a very tall task.  Still, I praise God for being merciful, and I rest in his grace each time I complain about my circumstances and wish for something different.  Now, as the days are starting to get warmer and the Lenten season is upon us, I feel God reassuring me with the beauty of spring and the promise of Easter.  While things may not get easier and the road may not be level, I hope that I can at least change my attitude and stop asking, “Why me?” when I fall into a valley from a peak I didn’t want to leave. 

Hockey Time!

We were finally able to take the kids to their first hockey game of the season, which was also Barrett's first hockey game that he EVER attended.  We were lucky enough to go with some of our friends for Kim Rojas' birthday AND sit in a suite.  It was awesome.  Barrett only made it through one whole period.  About halfway throught the second, he was out cold and stayed that way the rest of the game.  Here are a few of my favorite moments captured in photographs.