Predictability

My kids are so much fun.  Every single night when we get ready for family devotions, Eric and I can tell you with certainty several things that will happen.  After my kids listen to the Bible story and say a short prayer, one of them will shout that it's time for singing.  Then, they will argue over who picks the first song, which doesn't make sense because we make them take turns anyway. 

If Ava's song is first, it is ALWAYS "Jump!  Jump!" as she calls it, "Jump Into the Light" is what it is really called.  Whatever it is called, it doesn't matter.  She loves this song, and we have been singing it every single night for at least six months!

After we sing Ava's song, Lukas will ask us to sing his favorite song, which is "Trust and Obey."  We've been singing this song to him since he was a baby, but in the past year or so, it has become his favorite to sing at bedtime.  Both of our kids know the words to both songs and happily sing along, and that time is so precious to us.  I love to hear their sweet little voices singing, especially when they are praising God!

On another note...Lukas had his 5 year old check-up today.  What did we find out from this?  Well, he can see well, hear well, communicate well, knows his address but not his phone number (my fault, not his), and he's going to be tall.  DUH.  Yes, the son of a 6 ft 2 Daddy and a 5 ft 7 Mommy is going to be tall.   His doctor was supportive of our decision to homeschool, especially when she asked if Lukas knew all of his letters and was told that he could read (okay, so I'm bragging a little here). 

I'll leave out the gory details of Ava and I having a stomach bug the past two days.  We are on the mend.  Actually, Ava has bounced back quite well, but I'm still dragging a bit.  We had our first "sick days" of the school year yesterday and today, and Lukas wasn't even sick!  We'll make up for it though, and it won't be a problem at all.  This is the only downside of homeschool that I have found so far, there is no substitute teacher to make fun of.  

A Trip to Indy

I spent almost 5 years living in Indiana and going to Indiana Wesleyan University, and Eric was there for a full 6 years, and this past weekend was the first time either of us have been back to Indiana.  We didn't get to go to Marion, but we got to spend the weekend in Indianapolis, which was so much fun.

For those of you who went to college with us, you might remember Melissa Tharpe.  She got married on Saturday evening in a beautiful, candle-lit ceremony.  She looked beautiful and she was obviously incredibly happy.  Her new husband, Jerry, seems like a perfect match for her.  It was exciting to be there and to celebrate with her, and I got to visit with her parents a little too.

The day after the wedding, we took the kids to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.  Oh my gosh!  It was soooo much fun!  We have taken the kids to two other museums in the past, the Strong Museum in Rochester, NY and the Please Touch Museum in Philly, but they do not even begin to compare to this museum.  It was amazing.

Lukas' favorite part of the day was the Dinosphere exhibit.  We spent over an hour in that exhibit alone.  They got to see real dinosaur fossils, dig for fossils in sandstone, and dress up like dinosaurs while protecing their dinosaur eggs in their nests.  They loved it!  We had to drag them away from the Dinosphere to the other exhibits.

Ava's favorite part of the day was riding the carousel.  Carousels are one of her favorite things right now.  She also enjoyed the Preschool Playscape and the WinterWonderland exhibit where they got to ice fish and build an igloo.

We spent 5 1/2 hours at the Children's Museum, and there was so much more to see.  We skipped most of the second floor, and parts of the third and fourth floors because there just wasn't enough time.  Take your kids there!  It is more than worth the travel time!  It would probably make for a less expensive vacation than the beach or Disney World, but it would be so much fun!

Thankfulness

It seems that everyone has been talking and blogging about the things they have to be thankful for.  Why not?  It's that time of year, right?  No!  It isn't the time of year to focus on being thankful.  The Bible doesn't suggest a specific time of year when we should all be thankful to God.  We should be living lives of thankfulness for every blessing that God gives us.  It's an extension of the lives of worship that we should be living out day after day.  I know that many of the people who read my blog live out that very lifestyle, but it truly saddens me to think of all the people who only pause to say thank you this time of year.

And who are they thanking?  Who is the atheist thanking when they travel across the country to have Thanksgiving dinner with their family?  That's what saddens me the most.  They believe that there is no God to thank for the blessings they have, and still, God blesses them with health, wealth, family, and other things.  Isn't God great?  He loves us even when we aren't willing to acknowledge Him.

So...off my soapbox and onto yesterday's festivities.  We had a GREAT day!  I got up early to stuff the turkey and put it in the oven, and then I went back to bed for a little while.  We sat and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade together.  The kids loved this!  It's special to me because I used to watch it with my grandfather when I was a little girl, and I love extending that tradition to my little ones.

We hosted my parents, sister and family, Eric's parents, and the best surprise of the day, my dear friend Dustin who I haven't seen in at least 6 years.  He was in our wedding 8 1/2 years ago, and after that we saw him a couple times before he seemed to disappear.  I had no idea that he was coming, and I was thrilled to see him!  My kids had so much fun with him too.  He played with them outside and spun them around until they were so dizzy they couldn't walk straight, and so they thought he was the best adult around.  Ava actually cried when he left.  I hope he comes back again soon.  I feel like I've found my long-lost brother!

The meal was good, but the time with family was even better.  Everyone hung out afterwards for several hours and just visited and had a nice time.  Of course, they had to hang out for a while so that they could make room for dessert after the meal we ate! 

I have included a smilebox of our day for you all.  I hope you enjoy the pictures! 

http://tinyurl.com/u3rvd

Cassie's Getting Married!!!!

My sister is getting re-married....on Christmas Eve.  When did she decide this?  SUNDAY!  That's right.  Cassie and Ben decided to get remarried on Christmas Eve on Sunday.  That's when they spoke to their pastor and asked him to marry them on Christmas Day.  He said no, but he'll do it on Christmas Eve.  The church will be decorated and candle-lit.  It'll be beautiful and very special.  I'm so thrilled they are getting re-married.  God has worked a true miracle in their relationship, and for that, we are all happy.

BUT....

This means that I have to find a dress NOW.  Yesterday would be even better, but that is obviously impossible.  I figured I would need to go out and find a dress, but I didn't expect it to need to be super-formal wedding attire.  That's what she wants, and NO ONE can get me a dress before that date. 

So, as if the holidays aren't already busy enough, I pleaded with my mother-in-law to make me a dress.  After we exhausted all other possibilities, like borrowing a dress from my sister-in-law who is much shorter than me, on-line stores, and local thrift shops...she agreed reluctantly, so we went shopping for a pattern and fabric today.  It's a beautiful, deep shade of red with a pretty glittery pattern on it.  It's a-line with cap sleeves and a square neckline.  It's going to be beautiful.  I hope my sister is happy with it.   I'm so nervous that I chose the wrong shade of red and that she's going to be unhappy, but I like it and I think it'll be beautiful.  Plus, it'll sparkle so well in the candlelight!

On top of finding a dress, now I have to readjust my holiday plans.  We weren't planning to be in Coshocton on Christmas Eve, so that's a big change.  But...I wouldn't miss this wedding for anything. 

We're finding ourselves going through things during this holiday season that we have never faced before.  Where do we spend each holiday?  We've never really had to think about this too much because we've always lived in another state.  It's a nice problem to have, but one that most people figure out within the first few years of marriage.  Here we are working our way through year nine of marriage and just now facing this!  LOL

So should we just stay in Coshocton on Christmas Eve and open gifts with my parents on Christmas morning and have Christmas dinner at my sister's, or should we come home after the evening wedding ceremony and then go to Eric's parents for Christmas dinner?  This is our dilemma. 

Here's the tidbid that will show you all how spoiled I am...my parents no longer put up a Christmas tree, and that is what is making this difficult for me.  They have a 4 foot crochetted tree that has lights on it.  Truthfully, it's beautiful, and my grandmother, who is no longer with us, made it herself.  But...it's not a tree that I can put my children's gifts under after they are snuggled into bed on Christmas Eve.  I know.  I need to grow up and just be glad that I have the opportunity to spend this special day with my parents.

Anyone have a suggestion?  I'll take any and all suggestions into consideration (within reason, of course).

If there was a way to make everyone happy, I would do it, but that just isn't going to be a possibility!

NO Napping!

My children are not napping.  Grrr...  This wouldn't be too much of an issue if it weren't for the several days of no napping that have been strung together.  No naps on Thursday due to our portrait fiasco.  No naps on Friday due to a doctor's appointment.  No nap yesterday because of the big game (Woo hoo!  Go Bucks!).  And now, no naps today due to STUBBORNESS.

I know that Lukas is probably just fine without a nap.  He is 5 and most 5 year olds don't nap, but AVA needs a nap.  She needs to sleep or she turns into a different child.  If she misses her nap, a little blonde rascal appears in our house around 4 or 5 o-clock, and she hangs around until bedtime.  She disobeys everything we say.  She pushes every limit.  She doesn't eat her dinner, and then she complains that she is hungry at bedtime.  She runs around, jumps around, and moves constantly for several hours because if she stops, then she will collapse and fall asleep.

Making this problem even worse is that she hasn't had a good nap since Wednesday, and she has not been making up for it at night.  So, the the little blonde rascal has actually been with us since we picked her up from the nursery at church, and now she's not napping again!

Oh wait...wait!  The incoming report from Eric is that she FINALLY dozed off.  She's been in bed for nearly an hour and a half, and she just went to sleep.  We may just have a good evening yet!  Shoo!

Scarlet and Gray

There is one thing that you can't help but notice when you live in Columbus.  Everybody loves the Buckeyes.  Everywhere you go in this city, you will find someone wearing a Buckeyes shirt, hat, sweater, etc...  It's inevitable.  I've never seen a city with so much team spirit.  I noticed this as soon as we moved here last spring, but now that the big game is upon us, I am astounded at the amount of scarlet and gray that is present in this city at this time.

Everywhere you look, people are wearing OSU's signature colors.  Red hats, red sweatshirts, red t-shirts, red pants, red flip-flops, pajamas, red cars with gray stripes, posters, flags, etc...It's everywhere. 

I'm not the biggest sports fan around, but you can bet that I'll be joining in the fun tomorrow.  This family knows who to root for.  We'll all be sporting our scarlet and gray for the day, and Ava will even be wearing a cute little Ohio State cheerleading uniform.

Woo hoo!  Go Bucks!

Warning!!!

Do not take your child to a portrait studio in the month of November.  If you choose to take your child to have his or her portrait taken this month or in December, then you should be prepared to have to wait longer than you planned to, listen to other people's children howl and misbehave for no reason other than that they are bored and tired of waiting, and then wait some more.

I did not get Lukas' pictures taken in September as I have every September since he was born.  I finally got the appointment made for today, and we went to JC Penney at 11:00.  This was perfect planning on my part because I knew that we could get the pictures done, play on the playground in the mall, treat the kids to lunch, and head home in time for naps.  That's right...I said it was perfect planning on my part.

When we walked into the portrait studio, there were probably 20 moms and kids already there.  Somehow, they were only running about 10 minutes behind at that point, so we waited as someone's poor little 9 month old wailed at the photographer.  Ava was begging to get out of the stroller, but with all the chaos, I was a little concerned for her safety.  They were showing Aladdin on the television, and Lukas is terrified of the part where the sand turns into the leopard and asks in that super-scary voice, "WHO DESTROYED MY SLUMBER?"  We don't watch that movie at our house yet.  Why were they showing it in the morning when most of the kids there were pre-school age?  I have no idea.

Our portrait session was relatively short.  Afterwards, they told me to return in 20 minutes to see the portraits and make my purchase.  We headed to the mall to play on the playground.  I made the promise before I left the house that we would play on the super-cool space playground after the portrait studios, and I told Ava over and over again that she could get out of the stroller at the playground.

Guess what?  Santa Claus has overtaken the playground.  The entire play area is now covered in red and green with statues of Snoopy, Woodstock, Charlie Brown and the gang, and Santa, of course, is in the center of all of this.  People were actually getting Santa photos taken today.  It's not even Thanksgiving, yet there he was taking the much-needed playground from my children.  They were not happy about this.  Not in the least.

So we shopped a bit after that.  I got some good deals off the clearance racks at the Children's Place (one of the few stores that sells pants that don't fall off Ava's tiny little bum).  Then we headed back to the studio.  45 minutes had passed.  And yet...

We still waited when we got there.  It was another 20 minutes before they got to us.  It took me about 20 minutes to make my decisions, and then we had to wait 10 more minutes to pay for our pictures.

After our trip to the mall was over, we dropped Lukas at the office with Daddy.  Ava and I came home and snuggled on the couch for a while, and then we went upstairs to play.  We had a tea party and played with her babies.  That was the best part of my day.  There is nothing better than a cup of tea shared with the sweetest little girl in the world, especially after our mall experience.

Oh...so please pray for the many, many people working in portrait studios across America.  It really is a crazy place, and I'm sure that many, many people are not remembering to be patient.   I have a new appreciation for what these people do, and I truly am going to pray for them!  Join me!  I think they'll appreciate it!

An Ordinary Great Day

Today was a great day.  There was nothing special about the day, nothing out of the ordinary, but it was great.  Maybe that's what made it great.  I don't know really, but I am feeling content and blessed this evening.

School went well today.  Lukas accomplished his written work before naptime, and then we did some reading and crafting after nap.  We have been studying the first Thanksgiving this week.  Today we read a story about Squanto teaching the Pilgrims to plant and fertilize corn, so we made Indian headdresses.  I know, I know!  Squanto did not wear feathers on his head, but the kids look so darn cute in them that I just couldn't resist the idea of making them and taking their pictures.  Plus, they are loving them! (Cass...if you're reading this, we made one for Zack to wear at Thanksgiving since he'll be here too).

Ava had fun during school time today as well.  She wanted to do the same thing Lukas was doing, so I gave her some construction paper and let her use her safety scissors while he was working on cutting and gluing in one of his workbooks.  She ended up drawing maticulous leaves and golden ears of corn, cut them out, and then glued them onto another piece of paper.  Okay...so she scribbled on paper, told me it was leaves and corn, I cut them out, and she glued them.  I know I had you going there, didn't I?

This evening I took Lukas to get a haircut.  While we were there, Ava talked the ear off another customer who was getting a perm.  It was hilarious!  She went from one topic to the next with ease, and the woman, who was probably a grandmother, was loving every minute of it even though she had no idea what Ava was talking about most of the time.  Ava is definitely a talker like her Daddy!

I also did a little Christmas shopping.  In fact, all I have left to buy for Ava is a few stocking stuffers.  I found the My First LeapPad at Big Lots for $20, and it's the pink one that was discontinued.  She's going to love it!  Plus, they had books to go with it for $5 a piece, so I got one for her and one for Lukas' LeapPad that we'll be buying this weekend and putting away until Christmas.  The best part of that was that the book I bought for Lukas is by Zonderkidz!  It's all Bible stories made for LeapPad!  Can you believe that?  I have never seen it before, and I was thrilled when I found it.  It says it's first grade level, but I figure it's okay if it's a little challenging for now.  It was $5 and it's Bible stories.  There was no choice buy to buy it.   (Well, I could have chosen not to buy it, but we were planning to buy him a second book to go with the LeapPad anyway).

We also went to Dollar Tree while we were out to buy items for Operation Christmas Child.  Go here http://www.samaritanspurse.org/ to learn all about it.  They are collecting shoe boxes this week.  This is a great project to teach your kids about giving.  Lukas had a blast picking out items for his box.  Ava didn't quite get it this year, but I know she will.  I highly reccomend this project!

The only downer in our day is the rain.  It has been absolutley pouring all day.  We got wet even with our coats, hats, and umbrella, but we survived.  My only thought concerning the rain has been that if it were only 15 degrees cooler, it would be snow!  Wouldn't that be beautiful!  It's been raining for at least 8 hours straight at this point.  That would be a ton of snow for a November storm!  Oh well, maybe next month!

So you can see, it was an ordinary day, but for some reason, it feels like it was a great day.  Maybe it was the Christmas shopping.  Or maybe it was God reminding me of how blessed I am just to have the life that I have.  Maybe it was a little of both.

Refreshment

I'm home with my family again.  Our reunion was sweet, but the time while I was away was also sweet.  I am so glad that my wonderful husband allowed me to take this weekend away alone.  The time was well-spent.  I feel spiritually, emotionally, and mentally refreshed. 

I had the opportunity to go to dinner and a movie with my sister and some of her girlfriends on Friday evening.  When my sis realized that I was coming that direction, she invited me to come along, and I am so glad that she did.  Her friends are a fabulous group of Godly women who know how to have a good time.  It was just what I needed to start out my weekend.  We saw Will Ferrill's new movie, Stranger than Fiction.  This is generally not my kind of movie, but I have to say that I loved it.  It was a lot of fun to see, plus I was there with my sister, which is a very special privilege since I've lived so far away for so long.  It was a true blessing!

On Saturday, I started my morning slowly.  Afterall, there was no one jumping on my bed to awaken me from my precious slumber.  I took full advantage of that fact!  I spent the afternoon at my friend Sarah's house scrapbooking, which is always fulfilling for me.  I got tons of photos sorted and six pages completed in Ava's album.  Woo hoo!  More importantly, I had a great time visiting with Sarah, who is one of my oldest friends, and got to meet some of her newer friends.  It was a sweet, sweet day for me.

Last night it was just me and God.  I did a lot of journaling and some reading.  I did some more of this today.  I listened to worship music and danced and sang and cried.  It was wonderful.  Tears and music are the best way to cleanse my soul.

The past few years have been difficult years for me.  At times I felt very alone, and it seemed as if God had abandoned me.  When I hear the Barlow Girls song, Never Alone, I can relate to every word they say.  I have been in that place, and I often wondered if I would ever get back to the place where I knew He was with me again.  I can't describe in words the emptyness that I felt for months and months on end.  Everything I did was mundane routine, and I just kept waiting for God to be there with me...even though I knew that He said He would never leave me or forsake me. 

I know that He was with me, but it didn't feel like it.  I still don't fully understand why, but I am glad that He is here now.  I am glad to know that I will never be alone. 

This weekend was about reconnecting with my Savior.  My Friend.  My Daddy.  My Peace.  My Joy.  My Love.

Special Needs and Homeschooling

I just read a comment left on a recent post by a friend.  Her name is Stacy, and she has asked me to mention her in my blog today.  I don't know if anyone other than a few of my dear friends is really reading my blog, but I am hoping that there might be someone out there who can help her. Stacy has a little girl who is in kindergarten and has some special needs.  Right now her little one is in public school, but her parents are in the process of trying to decide if this is the best place for her to thrive.  If anyone has any experience homeschooling a special needs child, please post a comment on my blog that will enable me to put Stacy in contact with you.  I know that she would appreciate any words of wisdom that you can offer.  If you aren't comfortable leaving a comment, then you are welcome to e-mail me instead. Thanks fellow home educators!

Writer's Block

I'm sitting here staring at my computer screen typing a sentence, then deleting that sentence.  Then I type two or maybe three sentences, and I also delete them.  I need something to write about.  Something fiction.  Something uplifting.  Something encouraging to the stay-at-home, homeschooling mom.  You would think that I would be an expert on this, but I'm not.  The thing is that I haven't written fiction since I was in high school.  I have several beginnings of stories that seem to go nowhere. 

Why am I doing this?  My hope is to enter a writing contest.  I have until December 15th to submit my entry.  I know that God is prodding me to use my writing skills, but actually getting myself to do it is challenging and intimidating to say the least.

Our homeschool co-op knows that I am a writer.  One of the other moms actually brought me a book that lists thousands of publishers and tells me what I need to do to get published.  I don't know if I'm actually any good at writing.  I don't know if I actually  have any kind of insight that would be worthy of the page.  Writing is so deeply personal that it truly is a massive step to let others see, hear, and, in a sense, feel my thoughts and feelings.

All this pressure is leading me to one thing:  writer's block.  I once wrote a fictitious story about writer's block.  I can't remember the details of the story.  I was in junior high school, and I was writing as a part of my Creative Writing project for 4-H.  It was far from my best effort.  In other years I had pieces of writing win the county award and go on to the state fair, but this mediocre piece of writing all about writer's block won an honorable mention ribbon at the county competition.  Not too bad considering that I was suffering from a rather lengthy bout of writer's block.

The good news is that I will be spending some time alone this weekend.  My parents are going away for the weekend, and I am taking a personal spiritual retreat to their house.  I'll spend a little time with a friend and a little time with my sister, but most of all, I'll be spending a lot of time with God with no interruptions.  I've wanted to do something like this for years, but it's hard to get away when you are a mom to young children.  It's difficult to justify the get-a-way, and even more difficult to actually make it happen.

I have been blessed with this opportunity, and I still have fears running through my head.  Am I abandoning my kids and husband for the weekend?  Can they really get along without me for two days?  What will other moms think of me?  Am I being selfish?

I don't have the answers to those questions, but I do know that a mommy has to keep herself healthy spiritually above all else.  That's what this weekend is going to be about.  Maybe while I'm away, God will give me some divine inspiration and heal me of this treacherous writer's block.  I'm certain He'll give me an idea when the time is right.

Update on Us

 The Daily McBlog.  Hmmm... Maybe I should change that title.  Nah.  It's a fun title even if  I am pushing a week since my last entry.  You all know that I mean well, right?

The past week has been a whirlwind for us.  Eric and I had the privilege of ministering musically at a conference over the weekend in Ashtabula, Ohio.  There was snow in Ashtabula, which was fun for us even though we were totally not prepared for it.  I purposefully packed one pair of shoes to go with both outfits that I was wearing, and they were not snow-friendly shoes, but I survived.

We left our kids with Eric's parents, which they loved.  It was the first time that they spent the night with them, and they had a blast.  Ava was a little hesitant at first, but she definitely warmed up to the idea after we were gone and she realized how much fun she was having.

The best part of this conference was that we got to see what my dad does with his ministry.  He's often told us about the different speakers he comes into contact with and the things that they are involved in, but it's very different to see it ourselves.  I won't say that we're going to run out and join them for everything they do at this point, but I learned a lot and was definitely encouraged.  One thing that seemed to be spoken across the board by all the speakers was that Christian children should be educated in Christian schools or homeschools.  Amen to that.  I am so glad that we made this decision, and I don't think that we'll ever regret it for even a moment.

On Sunday morning, Eric had to be at church half an hour early to help out with the children's ministry.  He loved being back in action with the kids, and I am thrilled to see him getting involved again.  He is far too talented to not get involved, in my opinon.  Rob Juillard is our children's pastor at our church, and the two of them seem to be very like-minded in their ministry focus and ideas.  I'm excited for Eric to get to work with Rob.

After church we headed to Eric's parents again for a family dinner.  Eric's second cousins, one of whom was visiting from Colorado, were there for dinner.  I had never met any of these four relatives, and I have heard story after story about them. It was nice to finally put names and faces with those stories.

That brings us to Monday.  Our small group from church met at our house last night, which was so much fun.  It has been forever since we hosted such a large group at our home.  I believe the last time we did something like this was when we lived in NY, so it's definitely been a while.  I can't wait to have everyone over again, and we're planning to do some other entertaining as well.  It feels great to be having a normal life again.

Today was a normal Tuesday.  IT RAINED just like it does every Tuesday.  We did a little school this morning and then headed to our homeschool co-op this afternoon.  It was our last regular meeting until our winter session starts at the end of January.  I having been teaching the 3-5 year olds a drama class.  Basically, we read a children's book each week and then learned something about drama to go along with it.  Today they all got to wear costumes after reading Where the Wild Things Are, which they thought was fabulous (the costumes, that is, not sure about the book). 

I must update you on each of the kids as well while I'm on here.  Lukas is doing well, as usual.  His school work is progressing very well, and we are very proud of him.  He is making all kinds of friends, which is so important for a 5 year old boy.  On Sunday at church, he and Katie Pratt, our pastor's daughter, ran into each other.  By that I mean that they physically ran into each other.  Katie had a little knot on her forhead, but Lukas ended up with a purple bruise on his cheek bone right under his eye.  Other than that, he's doing well!

Ava has grown quite curious about who Jesus is, and we are spending much time trying to help her understand.  On Sunday after church, she asked us if Jesus was a monster!  Of course, we explained that He is wonderful and that He is God.  We also told her that He was right there with her in the car.  I told her that she could even talk to Him.  She responded by shouting, "I can!  I can talk to him?  Where is He?"  I told her again that Jesus was indeed in the car with us and that He is everywhere we go.  In her cutest little voice she said, "Oh!  He's right here in the car.  I can talk to Him, but I can't hear Him."  "You can't?"  Ava finished by saying, "No.  He's just a little shy."  It was too adorable to us, but maybe you had to be there.

Oh...I must not forget that Ava has also learned to hop on one foot.  If you happen to see her any time soon, she will show you that she can do this wonderful, amazing trick.  She shows EVERYBODY she sees that she can hop on one foot.  LOL

So that is what we've been up to lately.  I know this wasn't one of my most interesting posts, but I hope that you found it functional as far as delivering the McEvoy news goes.  I'll try to post again soon.  Maybe tomorrow I'll have free time and feel inspired.

It's Going to be Okay

That's what I kept telling myself when the batteries in my camera died last night at the trunk or treat festival we attended.  You all know how much I love photography, so you can imagine that I was upset when I couldn't take pictures of my cute little children at this special event.  I totally let this steal my joy.  I moped around the entire evening wishing that I had a photo of the kids checking out the firetruck, the pirate ship, getting candy, and climbing on the inflatables.

I know what you're thinking.  How childish is that!  That's what I'm thinking too.  Fortunately, my attitude changed when God let me see through a window into my child's heart.

Lukas was half-way up the inflatable slide when he turned around to see if Ava was keeping up.  The person in charge kept telling him to keep going, but he kept turning around to check on Ava.  When he got to the top, instead of rushing to the slide and tumbling down it as quickly as he could, he crouched at the top of the ladder waiting on his sister, and he even reached for her a couple of times. 

Well, she made it to the top, and they took a seat and went down the slide together.  Their smiles were as wide as the slide itself, and I nearly had tears in my eyes after what I had just witnessed.  And the biggest thing that hit me at that moment was this...A camera could never have captured this moment.  If I was looking through the camera lens, I might have missed this precious moment.  How dare I let a lack of photos from one evening steal my joy?

My little boy loves his little sister with all his heart.  It wasn't as if he had to wait for his sister.  Afterall, there was a huge, very fun slide waiting for him at the top, and this was one of his favorite things to do.  But...he chose to exhibit character that even I, as an adult, struggle with from time to time.  Don't we all?

And so...I don't have a lot of great photos from our evening, but I do have one good one that I took after my brother-in-law gave me some new batteries.  Click on the link below, and it will take you to see Princess Ava and Mr. Incredible!

http://tinyurl.com/y9wpmn