The Moberg Family

Category: Elliott

  • Scripture Summer!

    I’ll never forget the moment that, after weeks of battling the same problem with Elliott, I had a massive revelation.

    “The Scripture doesn’t say that my parenting techniques will not come back void…it says, ‘The WORD will not come back void.’” (Isaiah 55:11)

    I don’t know how I got two years into the whole parenting thing without ever having that thought occur to me, but it was profound for me, and surely an act of mercy from the Lord.

    Elliott had (for the most part) been an incredibly kind and loving big brother towards Selah her entire 7 months of existence. But somehow, right around after he turned 2, he began experimenting with some behaviors towards her; as in, “What will happen if I kick her in the head as hard possible?”

    Clearly, clearly…NOT OKAY.

    She had JUST started pulling up onto furniture, and she loved being close by Elliott. So many times when he was sitting in his chair eating a meal or a snack, she would crawl over, pull herself up onto the chair, and he would kick her little head until she fell over.

    We were at a loss. We had tried everything, and he wasn’t changing. If you know me, you know I have quite a bit of patience towards my kids regarding character development issues…I just recognize that many, many things will probably take YEARS for them to have true heart-change in. But, BUT…this particular issue needed to change IMMEDIATELY.

    But, I’m not going to talk about exactly how he changed, because my point is something far more important: that THE WORD OF GOD WILL NOT COME BACK VOID. 

    Another “incident” had just occurred and I remember kneeling on the ground, holding Elliott gently by his shoulders and pleading with him to stop, using words like “being nice” and “that’s not nice” and etc., etc. I had just taught the Kids Church lesson a few hours earlier to Elliott and all of his little buddies and it was about the good Samaritan. I suddenly paused and that’s when the revelation hit me: Why am I using such “powerless” words, when I could be speaking the very words of Life, that are promised to return in power.

    EVERYTHING changed about my speech that day. No longer do I tell Elliott to do things “because I said so” or “because it’s the ‘right’ thing to do”…but I am teaching him to act according to God’s Word. It is THE ONLY thing that will not return void.

    This is our heart for our children:

    9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing [Him], being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed [us] into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased [the Father that] in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. … 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29 To this [end] I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. [Col 1:9-20, 27-29 NKJV]

    Yes, we MUST teach our children that ALL things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. Our children must form their worldviews around this Truth. And so they MUST know the Scriptures, and how THE SCRIPTURES should shape their thinking and their actions. This is a great endeavor, obviously, that will take a lifetime to begin to teach, but I am amazed at how much it has pressed ME to know the Word more, because I need to have a specific answer on my tongue! I need to be able to teach them what God says about the generous person when they are confronted with sharing issues. I need to be able to recite by memory what God says will happen when they obey their parents when we have a moment (or a hundred) of defiance in a day. I need to be able to tell them what Jesus said about love when they are not treating each other lovingly. I must know what He says, so they will know what He says. There was a season where I taught the kids a Proverb a day and it was so helpful for ME. I read one chapter a day, picked one verse from that chapter, wrote it up on the white board in our playroom, and taught it to them first thing in the morning. It’s amazing how many Proverbs are the solution to almost every conflict between the kids :).

    I was struck by the simplicity of Romans 12 as a concise “handbook” for (some of) the ways of the Lord a few months ago, and decided I wanted to memorize a chunk of the chapter with the kids over the Summer. My goal was 13 verses, and we got through 6, which I was very pleased with :). We started out with Psalm 128:1 (“Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways.”), and I prefaced the whole series by talking about how we must understand that God says we will be blessed when we walk in His ways, and it is of utmost importance that we regard Him with utter holiness, with complete resolve that He is THE WAY. Then we went on to learn about what some of those “ways” are by memorizing Romans 12: 9-13.

    9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. [Rom 12:9-13 NIV]

    It was SO HELPFUL in my daily parenting, because not only did I have specific (powerful!) language (that won’t return void!!!!) to use with the kids during conflicts and disrespect, but because it helped form my prayers. Many times throughout the day, my prayer is, “Oh, dear, Lord. Have mercy.” (Anyone else have prayers like that during the day??)  But when I am focusing on a specific Scripture a day or a week, my prayers are filled with more vision and more faith. “Oh, Lord…please turn Elliott’s heart to TRULY honor his sister above himself.”

    Since we’ve entered the “3s,” whining has been one of our biggest battles. I will admit, when I am SO worn out from the constant whining, I usually just look at Elliott with pleading eyes and beg, “You’re killing me. You’ve GOT to stop whining!!” Hmm, as you can imagine, not the most effective or mature parenting technique :). So I was SUPER excited when we hit the verse that tells us we are never to be lacking in zeal. Finally, I had biblical language to tackle this whining monster. I did lots of role plays with him and we acted out what it looks like to be lacking in zeal and what it looks like to keep our spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Oh, my, did it help, thanks to the grace of God!!! The monster FOR SURE still rears its ugly head daily, but Elliott’s taken a lot of ground.

    So, my mama friends–I wanted to share the Scripture verse cards that I made in case you’d like to use them! (Why reinvent the wheel?!) We worked on one verse a week, and usually by the end of the day or at least by day 2, Elliott had each one memorized. Selah (at almost 2) runs around singing, “Walk in His ways!!” which I LOVE. Yes, my dear, that’s exactly right…let’s be devoted to walking in His ways.

    Click on the picture below to download all 6 verse cards!

    Blog Pic
    Verse Cards

    Want to do this with your kids but not a “natural” teacher?

    YOU CAN DO THIS!!! I promise!!! Here are 6 simple tips for you:

    1. Read the Word and allow the Lord to STIR YOU!

    If you are excited, they will be excited, too. If you know me, you know this comes awfully naturally to me–you KNOW that if something has changed my life, I will tell you about it so it can change yours, too!! 🙂 More often than not, I have taught my kids a new verse just because I was reading the Word and was so stirred I couldn’t help but share it with them. Even if we don’t do an entire “lesson” on the verse and memorize it, I trust that it’s being deposited in their hearts. When this happens, I call them over and say, “Kids! Come listen to this!!!! Listen to what God promises us!!!” So, this may go without saying, but when God has stirred YOUR heart with His Word, that is the first step for your childrens’ hearts to be stirred as well. When they see YOU moved by His word, it shows them practically what a changed heart really looks like.

    2. Call your kids over to come sit down and learn the Word of God!

    If you have carpet squares or one piece of paper for each child or a chair for each child or SOMETHING the kids can sit on so they know their job is to sit and listen, that is VERY helpful.

    3. Songs, Visuals, examples and role-plays are helpful!

    I always try to have my bible with me so they can really SEE that everything I’m teaching them comes straight from the Word of God. (I remember getting to college and re-reading the bible with new eyes, and being SHOCKED at how much Scripture I knew from songs, liturgy, etc, that I hadn’t realized was SCRIPTURE! Isn’t that crazy?! But it held a WEIGHTINESS to it once I found out it was THE LIVING WORD OF GOD versus just some lyrics to a song that a writer scribbled on a piece of paper. It is SO important to me that my kids understand that the things I say and the rules I give them come from GOD, not just my own good ideas.) Even when I have a verse card printed out, I read the verse out of my bible first. Then, I show them the verse card and talk through each word/phrase with them, pointing out how the pictures show the meaning of the words. We then hang it up where they can see it.

    Our six verses, all in a row.

    My kids are YOUNG (almost 2 and 3) so I need to use lots of visual and acting to help them understand the meaning of each verse. Obviously, the older your kids are, the less visuals and acting you will need, but these things are still VERY useful for teaching ALL kids how to really APPLY Scripture to their daily lives.

    Here’s an example:

    Verse: Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

    What I said: Okay, kids, listen to what God says: “Love must be SINCERE.” Can you say “sincere?” Sincere means really, really, really MEANING what you do. So if you ask me to play with the toy I’m playing with and I say, “Fine! Take it!! Hmmph!!!” and throw the toy at you, I did the “right” thing, but I wasn’t loving you like God defines love. My love wasn’t sincere. Now if you ask me to play with a toy I’m playing with, and my heart really DOES want you to have the joy of playing with it, too, then my heart sincerely wants to love you. In that case, I could say, “Oh! You want to play with it, too?! Sure!!” That means my love was sincere, and that means I am walking in God’s ways.

    Since my kids are so little, I keep the “lesson” to less than 5 minutes long. I had to break the initial teaching of this verse up into two days since the idea of “sincere love” was complex enough to fill 5 minutes. The next day we talked a lot about what evil is, and what it means to run away from it (lots of funny role plays!!) and what it means to CLING to something that is good.

    SING!!!! How much easier is it to remember something when it’s put to music??!! I hope you know about Seeds Family Worship…they are AWESOME. They sing Scriptures! We have listened to “The Good Song” probably hundreds of times: “Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways!” The kids and I often worship together, singing at the top of our lungs, dancing around our living room, sometimes with instruments in hands. I love worshiping the Lord with my kids!!!

    4. Teach it on day 1 (and sometimes day 2) and then use the language of the Scripture as often as you can throughout the week (and forever!).

    I only had the kids “sit” for a “lesson” on the days that I initially introduced the verse and its meaning, which took 1-2 days. Then, the “teaching” of it was much more “organic” throughout the week in that I would point out how that Scripture occurred throughout our day. Anytime the kids do something according to the Scripture I am sure to point it out to them. “Oh, Elliott! The way you just shared that toy with Selah was truly sincere love! Thank you for loving her so sincerely! That blesses God and it blesses me!! How does your heart feel when you see how blessed Selah is?! Isn’t it awesome to walk in God’s ways??!!”

    Or, if they were having a hard time, I would use the same biblical language with them. The MOST often used one this Summer has been: “Oh, buddy…are you devoted to Selah in love right now? Are you making sure that you are honoring her above yourself?”

    It’s SO HELPFUL for them to see how the Word is in all things and before all things…they need to understand how Scripture is RELEVANT to their daily lives and actions, and they need to SEE how to apply it. Like I said earlier, this will take a lifetime, so we’d best start early!! 🙂

    We would say our verses together every time we were driving or sometimes when we were sitting and playing and we would always tell Daddy when he got home from work what our verse of the week was. This is actually Elliott’s favorite verse and I catch him ALL the time saying, “Hate what is evil, cling to what is good.” YES!!

    5. Always, in everything, teach them about Christ

    There is no sense in teaching any of these things without also teaching the Gospel. Our children must understand that it is only by the grace of God that we can escape sin, thanks to Jesus Christ. We have worked hard on this with Elliott. I’ll never forget one day that I looked at him and said, “Elliott, you are the only one who can choose to obey. You’ve got to do this. You’ve got to choose to obey!” And before I had barely finished talking, he interrupted me and said, “NO!! Jesus and GOD help me obey!!” I remember taking a deep breath, realizing that my frustration had gotten the better of me, and told him, “Buddy, you are right. Let’s pray together. We BOTH need the Lord’s help to obey Him.”

    6. PRAY, never-ceasingly

    The moment I knew I had to start training, teaching, and disciplining Elliott (long before he was 1), I have been faithfully praying for HIS HEART to turn towards obedience to God. The LAST THING IN THE WORLD we want are children who “do what the bible says” but do not really LOVE God. Scripture is so clear: When we love God, we obey His commands. Children are so tricky because we must teach them to obey (“…train your child in the way he should go…”) long before they have a sincere love for God. But I am faithful to pray for their hearts to turn EVERY time I teach, train or discipline. Because it’s not ME that’s going to turn their hearts to love the Lord; it’s the Holy Spirit. So, I would exhort you: Never teach without praying. Always pray as you teach.

    Remember the verse from above: For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing [Him], being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…

    KEEP ON KEEPING ON, MAMAS!!!! May the Lord fill you with STRENGTH!!! And FAITH!!!! May YOU, by the grace of God, never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor as you serve your children and in doing so, are serving the Lord!!!!!

     

  • Summer Time!

    Summer Time!

    We’ve had such a FUN summer. I have been healthy, my kids are MORE FUN THAN EVER and we have just had a BLAST. Some highlights in photos:

    We swam.
    And looked adorable doing it :).
    We played with friends.
    We went to the Denver Aquarium.
    Where Selah petted a tiger.
    Siblings that paint together, stay together.
    He doesn’t even mind getting his hands dirty anymore! 🙂
    We went to a kids’ roller coaster park.
    Aaaaand, we moved. Because what would we do with ourselves if we didn’t move at least once every year?
    Elliott was seriously an INCREDIBLE helper…everyday he would beg me to pack up more boxes so he could help.
    This little darling didn’t miss out on the moving action.
    And, what good would a move be if it didn’t have a little adventure mixed in? While Brian was driving the moving truck to our new home, the rest of us realized we were locked out. My big brother saved the day, climbed a window, and broke into our new home! (Have no fear: he didn’t really “break” in…the previous renters had left a window open, so he just had to pop out the screen…)
    This picture does a great job of summing up how exhausted we all were. (This is totally not posed!!) We could never have made it without Brian’s parents help to finish packing up the old house and unpacking in the new house, or without my parents–who fed us for the first two days we moved in to keep us all alive.
    Brian and I were SO tired, that we took a day to get away and go to Water World (coolest water park EVER!) (Yes, it’s blurry. That’s how tired we were…)
    Brian asked Elliott if he wanted to help him set up shelves in the garage, and Elliott immediately ran to get his working guy gear so he could help. Such a mini Brian (minus the striped Polo shirt)…I love it.
    We got a little settled in, and went on a road trip…
    I’ll just post the pictures of them sleeping because that was pretty much what they did the whole trip. (OR NOT, haha!) But we all survived :).
    We went to the zoo multiple times.
    And always fed the giraffes. *Note: it’s apparently a requirement to stick your tongue out like the giraffe while feeding him.
    We did a LOT of trampoline jumping on our new toy. (Don’t worry: it does have a net!)
    Our little gymnast is BESIDE herself with joy!
    Grandma & Grandpa came to visit TWICE!! This was to commemorate one of our Focus on the Family trips. Selah apparently didn’t want to commemorate.
    We learned a letter a day and did a fun craft to go along with it.
    Selah learned right along with Elliott!
    At the beginning of the summer I drew a few shapes to build a car out of construction paper and was a little shocked when the big man did an incredible job of cutting all the shapes out! His cutting skills are pretty awesome at this point, and he loved cutting out each letter for the coresponding craft.
    “M” is for marshmallows!
    We BBQed with friends. Our new house came with a BBQ!! I’ve always DREAMED of having a BBQ!!
    The littles eating BBQ
    We went to Chic-fil-a. And even met the cow!
    Grandma & Grandpa got us a baby pool and this Baby Bean did LOTS of lounging out by the pool!!
    All of Brian’s family came to visit!
    We played at tons of parks, including this really cool modern one that we found!
    We rode bikes almost every day.
    This little girl got SO GOOD at the Stride Bike that I often have to run to catch up to her!!
    We baked muffins and banana bread and ate outside on the patio.
    During one of Grandma & Granpa’s visits, everyone went to The North Pole while I was at a bridal shower.
    This girl DIGS motorcycles. Seriously. Especially motor cycles from The North Pole.
    We took our kids on their very first hike to celebrate Kari’s birthday! It was so much fun!!!
    Charlotte, Selah, Quinn, Elliott, and Ava
    We had lunch with Daddy at work!
    One of these things is not like the other one…
    Aaand, these little ones spent more time than ever with me in the kitchen. Looking at those faces, would you be more than a little nervous to eat what’s in that pie??

     

    Adios, Summer!! You’ve been good to us. Now, bring on the warm boots, cozy sweaters, beautiful leaves and all the colors and smells of FALL….!!!!

  • Preschool Man!

    Preschool Man!

    This big man started preschool! We are SO PROUD of him and excited for this newest adventure!

    Some stats:

    Age: Almost 3 1/2
    Height: 41 1/2 inches
    Shoe size: 11
    Clothing size: 4 or 5T
    Loves: Balls, trucks, cars, “tiny” Legos, READING, aaaaannnnddd….apple sauce.
    Biggest accomplishments this summer: Writing his name all by himself, being able to identify the first letter of words that we give him, and mastering his pedal bike which he can now ride to our nearby park and back!
    Not bad, eh? He’s written it many times, totally under his own volition.
    On one of his many bike rides with Daddy.
    When he grows up, he wants to be…: “A fireman.”
    Favorite part of preschool so far: “I like to play there.”

     

     
     

    I tell you what…THIS KID. He amazes us every day.

    We have had such a fun summer together, learning and playing hard.

    Here’s his Happy First Year of Preschool sign along with the overflowing abundance of artwork he and Selah did this summer!

    Selah’s creations are on the left, and Elliott’s are on the right.

    We let him pick out a new shirt to buy for his first day. He VERY excitedly found this one and insisted on it. We got him a new pair of tennis shoes that just happened to have cars on them as well :). We let him wear his new shirt on orientation day, which was, technically, his first day…

    Orientation Day

    The child loves cars!

    My mom stayed home with Selah who had a little cold, and Elliott and I went to the orientation together.

    It was so fun for him to pick out his name tag and find the bin with his name on it!
    Aaaannnddd…they had cars out to play with…WIN.
    His sweet teachers, reading, The Kissing Hand
    After the orienation was officially over, he was READY to go. He really wanted a snack! So, out we went. The school has this “Fun Bus” that comes once a month…it’s like a mini gymnastics/obstacle course inside. Pretty fun, if I do say so myself! So he got to try it out that day.
    We sat on a bench and ate his snack, and headed home!

    His first official day!

    Somehow, all three of us were fed and ready to go in time to snap a few pics before leaving at 8:30. Miraculous.

    Giggly, goofy face
    My handsome, big boy!!
    “Say, what?!”
    BFFs

    Daddy met us at preschool to see Elliott off on his very first day!

    Little man, big world.
    “Love you, Selah! BYE!”
    LITERALLY running into the school, Selah trailing close behind…
    “The Yellow Door” and a yellow-shirted sister running to join in on the photo. This big guy is always happy with Daddy by his side.

    He went in without any problems and easily said, “goodbye.” When I picked him up, he wanted me to hold him and not put him down…not because he didn’t have a great time, but I’m pretty sure because he missed me :). My sweet boy. He told me he learned lots of new songs, but he couldn’t remember them all. By the time we got home, he had remembered one, and sung it for me: “Eyes are watching, ears are listening, voices quiet, body is calm…” He told me the names of a couple new friends that he really liked and said he had a great time. When I asked him if he wanted to go back, he said, “No,” and my heart stopped for a minute. “Oh, really, Buddy? How come?” He responded, “I only want to go to preschool when it’s a work day.” (As in, on the days that Daddy is working…as in, he wants to make sure he’s home when Daddy is home.) “Oh, sweet boy, yes, of course. You’ll only go on work days.” Bless my ever-living soul.

    Here he is admiring the novelty of “the stamp” on his hand while eating lunch.

    Stamp on the right hand!

    Aaaannndd…the infamous question: “How did YOU do with his first day of preschool, Mama?” Well….to be honest, the whole experience has left me leaning much closer to the homeschooling side of the fence. We have had an AWESOME experience with the school so far and we love his teachers, so it’s not that we’ve had a negative experience at all. It’s just that he’s MY BOY. MY BOY…. And I cannot IMAGINE having him gone for more than 2 mornings a week. I asked Brian on the first day if he thought the teachers would mind if I asked them to give me a play-by-play of everything that happened and that was said and done for the 2 hours and 45 minutes that he was under their care. He responded with, “Well, yeah, since you did that for every one of your students, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.” Sigh. I know, I know…he’s only 3…my perspective will likely change as he gets older. But for now, I’m a leanin’…. 🙂 One of the biggest reasons we chose to enroll him in preschool is for the enrichment portions of it. This school has a little soccer program that he can be a part of, and he LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVES it. After his first day, he said to me, “Mom, I want to play soccer EVERY day!” So, hopefully as I get to see him come alive through some of these types of things, I will be more excited about his year away from me :).

    That night, we all went out to dinner to celebrate his very first day! And it just happened to be, “get a free burger” night at RR!

    Happy first day of preschool, our big man!!!

     

     

  • Our Sons & Daughters

    Our Sons & Daughters

    This post is dedicated to Kari McCabe :). 

    Those of you who know me, know that I love to throw a good party. I used to be an avid crafter until, well, life got WAYYYYYY too busy for that. I still have managed to make time to throw my kids’ birthday parties and a shower here and there, but otherwise, my crafty side has remained dormant.

    That is, until, everything changed on October 5, 2013.

    We threw a little birthday party for our tweet one year old, and though I started out by saying, “I’m going to keep it SIMPLE!” I just got swept up in the adorable theme and couldn’t help myself. My mind was flooded with birds and puns and ideas to bless our daughter, and they all came into existence. We invited just a few close friends and family, and my dear friend Kari was one of the guests. I’ll never forget the moment her eyes had just scanned ALLLLL of the birds around our house, each intricate tail, beak, wing, and body cut by hand and she said to me, “You didn’t cut these all out by hand, did you?”

    “Yes, I did!” I said proudly.

    “Ummm, haven’t you heard of a Cricut?” she asked me, stunned.

    “The insect?”

    A slight smile slowly spread across her face as she stared at me in disbelief…”No…..the machine that would have cut all of this out FOR YOU…”

    I was TRULY baffled. For years, I have made every one of my decorations by hand…in that one moment, my memory flashed back to Elliott’s ball birthday party where I cut out EVERY SINGLE BALL by hand and his Construction themed birthday party where I cut out EVERY SINGLE CUPCAKE CONSTRUCTION SIGN by hand and then I stared at each bird, each cupcake topper, each number that marked the different years of Selah’s birthday banner and I thought about every minute that it took for me to cut each one out by hand…and I almost cried.

    “It does WHAT…?!”

    She tried to explain to me the concept of this “electronic cutting machine” but I was so overwhelmed at the idea of it–and all of the hours I had spent that didn’t need to spent if she was, indeed, telling me the truth. It was as if I had been making the trek every day to the river to wash my family’s clothes with rocks in hand and somebody told me there was a MACHINE that would do that all for me. Brian jumped off of the couch and began to research. (One of the many reasons I LOVE this husband of mine!) Within just a few minutes he had found a different version of the Cricut–an electronic cutting machine called a Silhouette. It got far better reviews than the Cricut and for several reasons it seemed like a much better option. We sat there while guests continued to mingle at our house and we watched the promo video for it. I’m sure there was a puddle of drool on the floor beneath me because I couldn’t BELIEVE the things this machine said it could do. Where had it been all my life??!! I was in love.

    I spent the next few hours, days, weeks and months convincing Brian that this would be the BEST investment we could POSSIBLY make for our future and our household. 🙂 After a few good nudges come December, I opened up my very special gift on Christmas day.

    My three favorite things about this photo: 1. Elliott’s bedhead. 2. The three of us in our Christmas jammies. 3. The CLEAR affection that my daughter already has for crafting!! 😉

    There she was…in all of her beauty. She was gorgeous, and terrifying. I knew I had to jump in right away and figure out how to use her quickly before she sat dormant too long.

    Brian and I opened the box together, read all the instructions, and watched the video. I designed a simple card and made my first cut.

    And sliced right through the cutting mat. (Palm to forehead.)

    Good thing it came with two :/. Needless to say, it has been a huge learning curve for me. I have moved from designing a few very simple cards to some fun signs for Elliott’s 3rd birthday to making banners and wedding presents to some meaningful gifts for friends to…my latest projects…home decor.

    I stumbled upon a facebook group that is like a Silhouette support group. Everyone who is a part of it is AWESOME–everyone is so kind and helpful and it’s SO MUCH FUN to see people’s creativity and to share a bit of mine. Each month, the group hosts a “challenge” with a theme, and I finally decided to be brave and jump in this month. 🙂

    This month’s theme is HOME DECOR. I had just finished this project, and so I figured this would be a fun way to share it!

    Several months ago, I came across this scripture while reading the Word one morning. It resonated so deeply with me, because this is SO who Brian and I long for our children to be!

    “May our sons flourish in their youth like well-nurtured plants. May our daughters be like graceful pillars, carved to beautify a palace.” Psalm 144:12

    YES. I have mentioned it briefly before, but I LONG for my son to not be quenched in his “boyness” but to FLOURISH in his youth. Yes, I want to raise him to be respectful and kind and thoughtful, but all the while being brave and mighty and BOY. Our society has a tendency to want little boys to act and behave like little girls, and then years later when they become a man and husband, their wives are upset because they are passive. I won’t go off on a tangent now 🙂 but this is so our heart’s cry: that our son would FLOURISH in his youth. We have gone to great lengths to nurture our son; his heart is SO sensitive and soft that, like a tender shoot of a young plant, he takes a LOT of nurturing. We have tried so hard, resting on the grace of God, to know his heart and shepherd it, while at the same time encouraging him to be brave and bold. Oh, Lord, may he flourish in his youth!!

    And, our sweet Selah. THIS GIRL. I tell you what, she is STRONG–strength like a pillar. I LOVE this description of a girl: a graceful pillar. YES. We want our daughter to be filled with grace, both in her speech and her actions. And at the same time, we want to teach her to STAND FIRM. To be unwavering and unmoved by the ways of this world, but firm in the knowledge of our God. A graceful pillar. Like the son who flourishes like a well-nurtured plant, we are striving to teach her what it looks like to be such a graceful pillar; she must be shown how to stand firm and not tossed by the waves. Like a pillar carved to beautify a palace, so we are teaching our girl. We are praying for her heart that she would be like the fragrance of Christ and that just by looking at her, people would pause to stop and think about how great our God is! (Selah!)

    All that to say, once I stumbled upon this scripture, I knew I wanted it up in the new rental home we were moving into the next month. And once we were here, Brian and I embarked on making this sign together!

    First, I spent a bit of time designing it through my Silhouette software. Though I’ve always wanted to be good at graphic design, this isn’t necessarily my strength (yet). So I spent a while, playing with the colors and the fonts and learning about the program. After a while, I settled upon this:

    Brian went out and got a wood board from Home Depot and cut it down to the size we wanted: 14″x 36″

    I spray painted it white, and decided to use a stronger vinyl for the letters than the regular vinyl I have used for other basic projects since I wanted to make sure it would stick to a painted surface. (During my last project, I couldn’t get the vinyl to stick to the medium I was using and my Silhouette support group came to the rescue and taught me about Oracal 651…an outdoor vinyl that’s much stronger.) I loaded the vinyl into my Silhouette, pushed the little button on my computer and my awesome machine cut out all these letters for me!!

    Using painter’s tape, I transferred the letters that I wanted to remain in white to the sign.

    See the rolls of TP under the table? This picture represents REAL life around these parts…this is how we roll! (Haha…)

    **Mistake #1: I FORGOT to lay down the verse reference, which I wanted in white as well. I didn’t realize I had forgotten this until the END, so it was definitely frustrating to have to go back and fix that. Lesson learned!

    Then, Brian spray painted the whole thing turquoise. We let it dry, I peeled off the letters, and then I applied the rest of the scripture that was to remain in black. (It was at this point that I realized I had forgotten to put the reference down two steps earlier, so we ended up having to tape off the corner, spray the bottom corner white again, put on the letters, spray paint it turquoise, and then remove the lettering. Thus, as you can probably see below, there are lines around the reference which totally bother me, but, honestly, it’s a good reminder that perfection is not required to be a good parent :)).

    Using a sandpaper block, I distressed the edges of the sign a little bit.

    The finished product!

    **Mistake #2: It wasn’t until we got the sign all hung up that I realized the tiny hyphen that should be present between “well” and “nurtured” didn’t survive the transfer. Gah! So…I had to go back and re-cut that little piece and attach it to the sign. I learned so much through this project!

    We put the sign up on the wall in our playroom with several of my favorite recent pictures of the kiddos…pictures that show them flourishing and filled with joy.

    A glimpse of our playroom!
    This little cutie woke up from her nap while I was snapping photos. I set her up with a snack, but she decided the subject of my photo should be something far more interesting than a wall in our playroom. So! Here’s my pillar…snacks in mouth and all :).
    Our flourishing youth & graceful pillar!

    I love how it turned out, mistakes and all, and I love the reminder that it serves on the wall of our playroom!!

    I hope you enjoyed learning about one of my very first home decor Silhouette projects :).

    Now…do you love crafts and  home decor as much as I do?? And do you…

    Want to Check Out More Silhouette Projects?

    My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so peruse the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration!

    Our Sons & Daughters Wood Shims and Word Art Simple DIY Canvas Art Pallet Signs Chalk Paint Pumpkins with Fabric Leaves Make a Personalized Scarecrow DIY Wall Art for the Bathroom Decoupaged Fall Leaves Lampshade Gimme A F.A.L.L! Eat SOMETHING Sweet Baby Love Quilt Big Reveal Sketching Inspiration for my little Dancer - September Silhouette Challenge Family Feature Presentation Wall Art Last Unicorn Shadow Box Makin' my office a little more artsy fartsy Family Command Center DIY Grandparents Sign with Photo Frame Dream Big Little Girl Canvas Art Fall Pallet Sign {Grateful, Thankful, Blessed} Pumpkins and Apples Sign Handmade Freezer Paper Cloth Napkins

    1. The Moberg Family // 2. Sandpaper and Glue // 3. American Honey // 4. Weekend Craft // 5. Grey Luster Girl // 6. From Wine to Whine // 7. Cutesy Crafts // 8. Practically Functional // 9. Home At Eight // 10. McCall Manor // 11. Dragonfly & Lily Pads // 12. Adventures in All Things Food // 13. Create it. Go! // 14. Please Excuse My Craftermath… // 15. The Outlandish Momma // 16. The Sensory Emporium // 17. My Paper Craze // 18. unOriginal Mom // 19. My Favorite Finds // 20. Architecture of a Mom // 21. Black and White Obsession //

  • Our 3 Year Old Working Guy!

    Our 3 Year Old Working Guy!

    I will admit, I sort of dreaded March 20th this year. I am definitely a little sad that my baby boy has left the TWOS. I have LOVED watching him grow this year. Whereas when they are one I learn so much about their personalities, it is while he was two that I got to see so many glimpses of his heart blossom. Yes, I realize that I will only get to see more and more as the years go on, but it was a sad farewell for me on March 20. This past year, I have watched his passions ignite and his heart soften. I have watched his love for people increase and his hunger to know the Lord and His word grow. He still carries a unique love for balls of all sorts but is fascinated with big trucks and wants his daddy to tell him about every truck he sees. “Daddy! Know this truck ‘dues’?” he asks each time. He still LOVES to read and could sit and have you read to him all day. He could be in the middle of almost anything, hear one of us reading to Selah in another room, and he will come RUNNING to snuggle in next to us and listen. He has memorized a few of his (long!) books and will often “read” them to us. He is still a puzzle genius. He loves applesauce. He always wants one of us to “sit close by me!” during meal times. When Brian eats his breakfast “on the go” (which happens often), Elliott will say, “Daddy, will you please sit down? Close by me?” I’m usually his dinner favorite 🙂 and it’s not enough to be sitting about a foot away from me. He’ll turn to me and say, “Mommy, please scoot me close by you?” and I will pull his chair over until it is touching mine. Usually what follows is a sweet boy cuddling up to my arm, looking up to me and saying, “Mommy I ‘yove’ you. AND I ‘yike’ you.” He melts my heart and amazes me every day.

    A big three-year-old hug! (Drool and all…)

    One of his favorite things to do is be a “Working Guy.” For months and months now, he’ll put on his hard hat, grab his tools, announce, “I’m a working guy!” and go “fix” something that’s “broken” in our house. It’s usually the chairs around the kitchen table that need fixing…almost daily :). So we decided to have a Working Guy birthday party with 3 of his favorite buddies (unfortunately, his friend Mookie couldn’t make it at the last minute but I’m sure he’ll be over soon to be a working guy with Elliott) and then we had a family Working Guy birthday party where he got to (start) building his very first REAL Working Guy project with his daddy…a soccer goal!!

    I tried to keep it SIMPLE!! Yay, me!! 🙂 Parties just bring out this addiction in me (seriously, I think it might be an addiction!!!) that makes me want to go all out. I LOVE to celebrate and I LOVE a good party. So, being as we decided a week and a half before his birthday to have a party I was really forced to keep it simple. I’m pretty proud of myself :). One of the best parts? USING MY BRAND NEW SILHOUETTE CAMEO!!!! Seriously, this thing is amazing. Definitely added to the “life-changing” list. With just a few strokes on the keyboard and the click of a button, the machine cut out ALL of these signs FOR ME!!! Oh, it’s a brand new day in the party-planning world :).

    Welcome to the Party!
    Elliott’s first present and his friends’ gear for the party!
    Come on, now…how adorable are these? Each Working Guy (and Selah the Working Girl) got his/her very own tool belt complete with tools and personalized hard hat for the party.
    The birthday boy, wearing one of his daddy’s old shirts from when he was a kid, eager for the party to start!
    That morning, we asked Elliott what he was most excited about now that he was 3, and he said, “I get to eat CAKE!”
    The foreman, reviewing the projects of the day.
    Elliott opened his first present from us (a REAL working guy outfit!) and then equipped his working guy friends with their working gear. (**Note: I thought the tool belts and hats were the COOLEST things ever but there was never even ONE moment, literally, during the entire party where they all had on their gear at once, haha! But I did catch one moment on camera where they were all at least wearing their hard hats (you’ll see that below)! Things you learn after throwing a birthday party with three year olds :))
    Here’s the whole crew–Elliott’s best buddies. Selah, Malachi and Justus (we missed our buddy Mookie!!).
    They “helped” Brian build model machines and then painted them to their liking.
    Here is Justus meticulously painting his hanger plane gold.
    Selah INSISTED on doing everything the boys did, and so after not falling for “pretend painting” we finally gave her some real paint to paint with, too. 🙂
    Next, we had the ring toss.
    Each boy got a ring around the cone at least once!
    They hammered golf tees into foam (for SURE the hit of the party…get it?? “hit”?? Haha…)
    This working girl learned the ropes from her big birthday bro!
    They built towers…

    And lastly, they refueled with some yummy lunch and, of course…CAKE!!

    How old are you, Elliott? “THREE!!!” (plus 5??)
    Mmmm…
    Those working guys needed some CAKE!
    Us.

    A few days later we had a “family” birthday for Elliott with both sets of grandparents there! Elliott started construction on his very first REAL working guy project…a soccer goal made out of PVC pipes!

    All the grandparents!
    Checking the plans with Daddy…
    Measuring the correct length…
    And sawing with Daddy and Grandpa. WHAT a WORKING GUY HE IS!!
    Once a working guy, always a working guy…

     

    Happy third birthday, Elliott Brian!!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • So Very Blessed Indeed

    So Very Blessed Indeed

    I couldn’t let 2013 slip away silently, without writing a little something to REMEMBER who we are as we finish out this past year and begin a new one. If I had written a Christmas letter, this is what it would have said. 🙂

    There’s not a day that goes by that Brian and I don’t turn to each other and say, in some fashion, “We are so, so, so blessed…” Now don’t get me wrong…we have had QUITE the year in some aspects, and someone looking at all of our various challenging circumstances might call us anything but “blessed” this past year. But “blessed” is all we can see when we look at what matters eternally. We are so grateful for the goodness of the Lord and how He’s carried us through every trial and lavished us with AMAZING children, faithful parents, loving relatives, and deep, life-changing friendships. How could we possibly be more blessed, even when our circumstances are trying?

    SELAH, 15 1/2 months

    Our sweet and spunky thrill baby who is extremely passionate about her favorite things. She has a special love for hats, coats, and shoes still, often trying to put a second pair of shoes over the ones she currently has on.

    “Help, please, Mama?”

    She loves picking up various articles of clothing laying around the house and putting them on her head or around her shoulders like a scarf.

    “Look what I found!”
    “I didn’t think he’d need them while he was on the potty…”

    She loves to dance, especially during worship, which means she is a perfect pair for her big brother who has recently started singing ALL the time. He often breaks out in spontaneous song, and she breaks out in spontaneous dance! (Watch this cute video, and ignore the fact that I don’t really know the tune or the words…)

    She, like her big brother, is very particular about the way things should be (where on earth do they get that trait from??) and tells me how various parts of our routine should go. After getting her pajamas on for bedtime, she very passionately insists that she wants to read a book and she gets very, very upset when we don’t have time to read one. When I get her up in the morning she points to the chair where I nurse her and asks for milk, then she points to the boppy and says ,”Boop!” Then she points to her blanket which she likes over her during that morning nursing time. She finds every tiny piece of trash and food on the floor and brings it to me. She also LOVES to throw things away, and I think I’ve finally trained her to only throw away diapers and trash, not toys. 🙂

    She can’t get enough of the trash can…

    She still climbs ON and IN EVERYTHING including our HIGH kitchen table chairs which has caused many near-heart attacks for this Mama :/.

    “Just helping you with dinner, Mama!”

    She loves to take a “bipe!” of anything that we are eating, and besides yelling out, “bipe!” she opens her mouth INCREDIBLY wide to show us that she means business. If you ask her for a kiss, this is also the same face she makes…so you never know what you’re going to get :).

    “Can I have kiss, Selah Bean?”

    She is so, so playful. I love seeing how her spunky little mind works. She has several little “games” she plays with me…one is that as soon as I go to get her in the morning, she won’t let me pick her up until I’ve played peek-a-boo through the crib slats at least once with her. She also has this funny little game where she breathes out through her nose several times, waits for me to mimick her, and then she growls. I think it is SO FUNNY.

    Sometimes, if I’m in the kitchen and she’s playing in the living room, she’ll call out to me and then do the breathe out/growl thing. As soon as I do it back to her, she’ll go right back to playing :). How awesome is she?? She fills my heart with utmost gratitude, joy, and constant laughter and awe.

     ELLIOTT, 2 3/4 years old

    I’ve said it before…but this child just brims my soul with delight. He LOVES friends, his sister, the bible, “building a big house” with duplos, wearing his jammies, singing songs, tiny things (ANYTHING that’s “tiny,” he LOVES), his daddy’s old playmobile set, puzzles, being a “working guy,” and animals. He still has a love-hate relationship with animals: he only ever wants to eat off the two plates that we have with animals on it and loves playing with his animal figurines, but refuses to go near an animal that’s alive and breathing. Recently, he’s developed a huge passion for stickers; he will go through an entire book of stickers and stick them in one pile onto another piece of paper.

    “Don’t worry, Mom, I think I can fit at least 400 more stickers on this sheet of paper.”

    His super power, besides having a phenomenal memory, is noticing incredibly subtle nuances or when anything is new or different. As we moved into the winter season and I began wearing more sweaters and warm things, he noticed every time I put on something he didn’t recognize. “This is new?” Recently he has discovered the word, “Why?” which has certainly given me a run for my money as a mom :). We did have some breakthrough recently…usually every day as Brian leaves for work, Elliott asks which car he’s going to take. When Brian answers, “the truck,” Elliott asks, “Why?” and Brian explains that he wants to leave the Suburban here in case we need to go somewhere. Well, the other day he said as Brian was leaving for work, “You take the truck? You take the truck so we have the ‘burban in case we need to go somewhere?” Elliott memorized his very first bible verse at the beginning of December, and loves talking about bible stories. A few weeks ago, he put a laundry detergent clear plastic cup on his chin like a beard and said, “I am Noah!” We then built our own ark out of duplos and filled it with animals!

    “Let’s build an ark!”

    He LOVES, and I mean L-O-V-E-S, applesauce. He eats an unbelievable amount of applesauce in a day and we definitely have to cut him off after a while. One morning while I was putting Selah down for a nap, I could hear Elliott opening and closing things in the kitchen and obviously working on something, I came downstairs to THIS face…INCREDIBLY pleased and delighted himself:

    He couldn’t WAIT to show me what he had done ALL BY HIMSELF as soon as I got back downstairs…

    Turns out he had gotten a bowl and spoon out for himself, opened the fridge, took out the applesauce, poured it into his own bowl, put the applesauce back in the fridge, and enjoyed his special treat that he prepared himself. As you can see, he was SO PLEASED with himself. So then I opened the fridge to look at the brand new applesauce jar that I had JUST opened, and this is how much applesauce was left :).

    I keep telling him he’s going to turn into apple sauce if he keeps eating it at this rate!

    Elliott has such a tender heart towards the Lord and LOVES to read the bible. He makes sure that we read it every day in this household…talk about accountability!! 🙂 One night a couple months ago, after requesting several stories that didn’t happen to be in the children’s bible we were reading, he finally said, “Read about Jesus, God, take mine sins away….Jesus DIED!” I’m in awe of his faith already at the age of 2…a toddler who does not want band-aids or other soothing methods when he gets an “owie,” but who cries out for Jesus to heal him instead. Pure delight to my soul.

    THESE TWO….

    BFFs.

    Having two siblings who love each other (most of the time, haha!) is simply extraordinary. I think to myself multiple times a day, “What a GIFT to have two children who LOVE, and who are LEARNING to LOVE, each other…” The majority of the time, they play incredibly well together. Elliott is such a phenomenal big brother most all day long, and looks for ways to bless, serve, and help his little sister. When she’s crying in the car (which is most of the time, haha!), he sings, “LA, LA, LA, LA, LA!!!” at the top of his lungs until she starts to sing along, too, and forgets why she was crying. When we pull into our cul-de-sac he says, “Look, Selah! See? See??? We’re almost HOME!!!” When I get Selah in the mornings, as soon as I’m done nursing and changing her she asks for “Dada” and “Elliott!!” She will ask for him until he finally wakes up and then she RUNS into his room screaming because she can’t wait to see him. As soon as I get Elliott up, one of the first things he always asks is, “Was Selah asking for me?” They are truly BFFs. Lately they have been holding hands a lot, and it is the most precious thing ever.

    Running around the house, holding hands…

    He makes her laugh. I love how much laughter is in our home each day!! (You probably don’t have to watch the ENTIRE video to get the point…) 🙂

    They have some sort of sleeping unity that I think is CRAZY. We have video monitors in their rooms, and I’m telling you—SO MANY TIMES they end up sleeping in the exact same position at the exact same time. I’ve probably taken a picture of it a dozen times, but it happens SO OFTEN! Isn’t that crazy?! Has anyone else experienced this??? I took these pictures seconds apart…

    Her.
    Him.

    He is also super helpful with her…feeding her when I am getting dinner ready and constantly telling me what she needs.

    SO helpful, and she LOVES being fed by big brother!

    When Elliott needs to go sit in a time out, she automatically goes and joins him. Kind of defeats the purpose of him being a little bit isolated so he can gather back up his self control, but it’s just so dang cute that I have a REALLY hard time telling her to move…I just love her love and admiration for him so much!

    “Ahh, thanks for the sympathy, Selah! I’ll take it.” 🙂

    She would be content snuggling and hugging him all day long…unfortunately he doesn’t ALWAYS have the patience for that :).

    “I LOVE you, Elliott!!”
    moberg_35
    Though he doesn’t always have the patience for hugs, he is constantly giving out kisses…

    US TWO.

    moberg_48

    I continue to be the most blessed Mama on the planet, constantly in awe of the privilege it is to raise these children and spend every single day with them. I got to help teach a parenting class during the Fall, and it stirred up my faith even more for being a mom! Of course it can be challenging to train up these little ones, but the joy just so far exceeds the challenges. I LOVE my job!!!

    Brian just finished one business adventure, and is on to the next. So although we are very much looking forward to ending our year-long transition  streak, we are also super excited and expectant for what’s ahead. We are realizing that our entire marriage has been one big transition after another, yet it’s incredible to see how transition has made our marriage that much more stable. Brian and I so often say to each other, “I’m so glad it’s YOU.” We have had our fair share of trials and challenges this past year, but each time we have come out with a much deeper faith, much deeper confidence in the goodness of our God, and much greater love for one another. There are SO many questions we have pressed into in the last year, regarding life and godliness, and each time we examine the Word and come out in agreement over what it says, we praise God for the rare gift of unity that He’s poured out on us. THIS Scripture has been life:

     “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
    1 Peter 1:6-7
     

    I think I can honestly say that I do not take a single blessing in my life for granted. Each day is a gift. My time with Elliott and Selah is so precious…I will never get these little years back, and although some days seem very LONG, I just don’t want to waste a single minute of each one. Each day with my husband is a gift. I married a man who works incredibly hard at every task that is set in his hands, who serves without question or expectation of reward, who guards his tongue, who selflessly takes care of those around him, who lives with integrity of character despite being misunderstood and mistreated, who holds a high standard of godliness in our home, who cherishes me and lavishes me with praise daily, and presses me to not settle short for less than the fullness of Christ. Never in a billion years could I possibly choose another. When I said on my wedding day, “The Lord has seen to every detail of what I need” I had no way of knowing how deep and profound I would come to understand that statement four and a half years later.

    Transition and loss, new days and gain.
    Adios to Mexico, Hello, Rocky Mountain plain.
    Trials and joys, sickness and health
    And a faith that is stronger than the greatest wealth
    We thank you for your lessons but bid you farewell, 2013…
    This entire year you showed us that we are so very blessed indeed.
     
    moberg_13
     
     
    With great love, 
    The Mobergs
     
    **Thank you, Kristi Anne Photography for our awesome family photos! Visit our Gallery to see all of them!

     

  • Christmas 2013

    Christmas 2013

    CHRISTMAS EVE

    I had big plans of baking a birthday cake for Jesus with Elliott on Christmas Eve, so we could throw a good ol’ fashioned birthday party on Christmas Day. And…it for sure didn’t happen this year :). Add it to the list of things to look forward to for next year!!

    We made a big family breakfast and decided to let the kids open their first gift since we knew we would get home close to bedtime. We got Elliott Mr. Potato Head and Selah got the Mrs.! I THINK he’s only seen one of these once, but he recognized it RIGHT away and exclaimed, “I GOT A SWEET POTATO!!!”

    “My SWEET POTATO!!!”
    “I have no idea what this is, but Elliott is REALLY excited about his and so I’m sure there’s a reason to be excited about mine, too!”

     

    Our church didn’t do a Christmas Eve service so we searched around for a service to bring the kids to so we could sing some carols. We got a little bit dressed up…

    Come ON, now!!! How adorable is this little Christmas baby?? (And, of course, the BEAUTIFUL stockings made by my dear friend Courtney!!)
    Christmas Eve, 2013

    …and made the trek all the way down to Centennial to attend a service that was offering camel and donkey rides afterwards :).

    She was hesitant at first, but then really enjoyed the ride, I think!
    She was hesitant at first, but then really enjoyed the ride, I think!
    The boys.
    The boys, and the cute donkey pony.

    Then we all went out to eat at Panera together, which was very fun and unique for Christmas Eve :).

     

    CHRISTMAS DAY!!

    We let the kids open stockings before breakfast, and I’m pretty sure those little trinkets from the dollar store are some of their favorite gifts :). After our big breakfast, we dove into the pile of presents.

    The Big Man on Campus

    The big man got a big basketball hoop! (Can you see that he’s holding one ball in his left hand as he throws another one towards the hoop? That’s my boy :)).
    Elliott loves his new truck from Uncle Kevin, Aunt Tabitha, Taylor, Hailey & Micah!

    The Baby Bean

    Selah was nothing short of PURE DELIGHT as she opened up each gift. Though she was MOSTLY passionate about climbing on the presents…

    “This whole present thing is an awesome obstacle course!”

    But when she finally got to open them, she would SCREAM at the top of her lungs as she opened each present, and then proudly show it off…

    “THIS!”

    The Daddy of the House

    I won’t even bother telling you about all of the thoughtful, nice gifts that I got for Brian, because THIS one was his favorite and the only one he talks about…

    Brian’s “big” gift…
    …a new trash can to hold our recycling that fits under our kitchen sink. No, seriously, this was his FAVORITE gift…you should ask him about it sometime!

    La Mamacita

    Apparently Santa picked up my several (hundred) (not-so) subtle hints about what I wanted…

    …the two best gifts anyone could ask for AND…a Silhouette Cameo 🙂 🙂 🙂 :).

    My other really fun gift was from Elliott, who apparently has been quite bothered by my “broken” slippers (they have had a hole in the toe for months)…he told Brian they should get me new slippers for Christmas!

    When we started talking about opening gifts that morning, Brian said to Elliott, “Big Man! Should Mommy open the gift from you first?” And he instantly responded, “Yeah! They’re SLIPPERS!!” Hahaha!!!
    Merry Christmas morning!!

    We celebrated with my family the next day, and it was truly a memorable meal that involved smoke alarms and a ridiculous amount of smoke :). NOT my mom’s fault…definitely the oven’s fault, but wow–it was quite the ordeal. Doug and Melanie saved the day by keeping all the kids happily locked in my parents’ bathroom and playing very entertaining games to keep them laughing hard and distracted from all the craziness. Brian stood on top of a ladder and disabled the smoke alarm that wouldn’t quite ringing, and somehow, in the midst of it all, my mom STILL managed to produce the most phenomenal Christmas dinner. There’s just nothing like your mama’s cooking, is there?! It was excellent.

    Here’s part of the Mauss clan! )Minus the Smith family, who wasn’t able to make it out to CO this year.)
    I’m not afraid to say it: My nieces are the most beautiful nieces on the planet! (Including my niece Courtney who’s not pictured!!)

    Haven’t had enough yet? Well, here you go:

    Sporting her brother’s shades…
    A little snow play…
    Merry Christmas to all!!!

     

     

     

     

  • The Christmas Count Up!

    The Christmas Count Up!

     WHAT a FUN, FUN, FUN Christmas season this was!! Elliott was finally old enough to justify putting in some effort towards the Christmas countdown and the kids and I just had a blast. I kept it ULTRA simple and it was all fun with no stress. Next year I’ll try and solidify my activities more in advance so that I’m not making a trip to Michael’s every week for supplies :). If you have a toddler, these activities were pretty good for him. I decided to post what we did (successes and failures!) because I found others’ lists so helpful as I planned!! My biggest advice if you’re planning on doing this next year: 1. Make sure you have a Michael’s nearby! They had a few really fun, cheap crafts that were all cut out and ready to put together. I strolled through at the beginning of the month and added those crafts to the list! 2. FOR SURE take it day-by-day. I had my list of activities in an excel sheet and often printed out the cards weeks at a time, but I never placed them in the envelopes until the night before…sometimes the morning of depending on what I was up for! One thing we did post-Christmas was inspired by my super talented friend Elizabeth who made red and white peppermint play dough for us! I set the kids up with the yummy-smelling dough and some Christmas cookie cutters and they BOTH loved it! Such a fun idea!! Next year, when the kids are older, I’m excited to do more “giving/serving” things and also go on some more adventures…like to The North Pole which happens to be in Colorado Springs!! 🙂

    Here’s our envelope tree! Elliott got to open one envelope every day, but always wanted me to pull the card out after the very first one he pulled out got a little wrinkled :). I would hand him the envelope, he would lift up the flap and then hand it back to me saying, “You open it, please? Don’t wrinkle it!”

    The Christmas Countdown!! (Or should I say…”Count UP”??
    The anticipation builds as he says, “What does it say?? READ it!”
    I LOVE surprises 🙂 and seeing his face light up with joy after I read each day’s surprise to him was MY FAVORITE PART…

    Besides our fun Christmas activities, we made it a point to read the bible as a family together every night. Brian reads to Elliott from the “big” bible every day, usually while I’m making breakfast for everyone, but for the month of December we read through the Old Testament of the Jesus Story Book Bible (which is AWESOME if you don’t have it!) and tried hard to make it a family event each night after dinner. This bible is so cool because every single story points out how God orchestrates everything to lead us to Jesus. It writes about how God rescues His people time and time again, and then explains that soon He would send an even greater One who be The Rescuer. It’s just awesome. Then, of course, on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we read about how He came!! I printed the Advent reading schedule from the internet, colored it, and we simply put a star next to the Day once we had read the story.

    And the time was sweet. Usually at some point throughout the day, Elliott would be in the midst of doing something and suddenly shout out, “Mommy! READ THE BIBLE!!!” at the top of his lungs. And I would remind him that we were waiting for Daddy to get home. After dinner we would all sit on the couch. Selah insisted on having her water bottle with her each time and she would climb up onto my lap as Brian would start to read. Then, she would push her way into Brian’s lap and point to the picture on the current page and say with passion and enthusiasm, “THIS!!”

    “THIS!”

    After a few minutes of pointing as Brian read, she would climb back into my lap and wrestle and play.

    During wrestle-mode

    Elliott has been in the “WHY” stage so he spent most of the bible stories asking “WHY” about everything. “Why he have a beard?” “Why he in a whale?” “Why he sitting against a tree??” 🙂

    I also got to teach Kids Church this month so it was super fun to lead Elliott and his little 2-3 year-old buddies into an understanding of Christmas. He even learned the month’s memory verse, Luke 2:10-11, several weeks ago! I had never worked on it with him; I had just been teaching it to the whole group of kids (mostly targeting the older kids) on Sundays. So I was shocked one day as I was listening to him play and he started saying, “Don’t be afraid! Because I bring you GOOD NEWS…” He normally runs around the living room in circles saying it, but below is the best recording I have.

    Click on the “CC” button at the bottom of the YouTube video to turn the close captioning on…it’s a little difficult for the common ear to understand his pronunciation sometimes :).

    This Christmas season just felt so FULL (in the BEST sense of the word)…full of Jesus, full of hope, full of sharing in the wonder of the miracle of his birth, and–of course–full of FUN. Elliott is super familiar with all of the people who played a role in the Christmas story. He picks out shepherds every where we go, saying, “Shepherd! He has his staff! So he can guard his sheep!”

    Here is our Christmas Countdown!

    Day 1: Decorate the house and tree as a family!

    Our little nativity set from Grandma & Grandpa was one of the first items we took out of the Christmas bins…
    …it provided HOURS upon HOURS of entertainment this month. Plus, it was a super handy prop while teaching kids church! I would HIGHLY recommend this 🙂

    Day 2: Decorate your own little Christmas tree with Selah!

    I had seen this idea on Pinterest and was planning on buying the materials to make it, when lo and behold Michaels was selling the entire kit all cut-out and ready to go. For 50% off, of course! Yes, please.

    My little elves at work
    Although the felt pieces don’t stay on SUPER well, Elliott still had fun with it throughout the month. Selah definitely enjoyed it from time-to-time, too.

    Day 3: New Christmas movie: Charlie Brown Christmas

    I’m not kidding you…this is often how they watch shows!! Melts this mama’s heart.

    Day 4: It’s snowing out! Make snow crafts!

    When we woke up to snow, I knew we had to do something snow-related.

    My beauty, staring out the window at everything covered in WHITE…

    This snowman was super fun because I literally came up with the idea on the spot when I saw the snow and we had all the supplies in our house. I just drew the main body with glue and Elliott pretty much did the rest. (I cut out the hat and scarf and did the mouth…) We used salt for the snow at the bottom since that’s what we had!

    Building his snowman…
    SNOW cute, huh?! 🙂
    He really liked this craft 🙂

    Day 5: Counting with Christmas trees

    Super fun idea from Pinterest! And super easy to put together with supplies I already had in the house.

    I had to help him count “the ornaments” for some of the trees, but he overall did a pretty good job on his own!

    Day 6: Bubble bath “snow”

    Selah’s first bubble bath, and–I think–Elliott’s second! Why don’t I think to do bubble baths more often?? Elliott helped me make the “snow” and jumped right in to play, but Selah was pretty confused and disgusted at the white fluffies over-taking her normal, beloved bath water.

    Elliott helps make “the snow” while Selah won’t move from this position…
    “WHAT on EARTH? My hands are FILTHY with this ‘snow’! I thought baths were supposed to make me CLEAN!”

     

    Elliott saves the day by showing her how harmless and fun this “snow” really is…
    And she finally relaxed a little and started to have some snowball fun!

    Day 7: Family Breakfast! Snowman pancakes

    So. Much. Fun.

    Elliott’s snowman (oops…forgot the hands and hat!)
    I don’t think he noticed 🙂
    There we go…my snowman had all its parts!
    Brian wasn’t a big fan of putting all of that candy, fruit, and bacon on his pancake so I made him a melted snowman :).

     

    Day 8: Go out to dinner as a family, look at Christmas lights, come home and drink apple cider!

    This was kind of a disaster :). We should have just picked a few houses to look at in our neighborhood, but instead we drove about 25 minutes away to hit several houses that were listed as some of the best Christmas lights in the city. Well, Selah’s not the biggest fan of long car rides :/ and so she was crying long before we even arrived at the first house. AAAAND….it was a bit of a LONG night. Note for next year: stay local :).

    We took a picture of this house so we could decorate ours like this next year. 🙂
    We came home, put that poor, screaming Baby Bean to bed and got Elliott all pumped up for his first taste of real apple cider. We stared at him as he took  his first sip, HUGE smiles spread across our faces from ear to ear, and held our breaths…
    When he came up for air after his first drink, this was the face we saw.

    You would think he LOVED it, right? Well, soon to find out, I think he was just trying to play along with the excitement on our faces. Because after his first sip he laughed with us and when we asked him if he liked it he said, “yes,” but when we asked if he wanted to take another sip he said, “No, thank you…” and gently pushed it away. HAHA! This is the kid who could scale a mountain for a sip of apple juice. Oh well. We tried :).

    Day 9: Since it’s still too cold to play in the snow, let’s make our own!

    Did I mention it wasn’t just snowy that first week of December, it hovered around ZERO DEGREES the entire week. It was C-O-L-D.

    Start out with some baking soda…
    …add a little shaving cream…
    And you’ve got yourself some SNOW!
    And a one year old who still isn’t impressed with this whole “snow” theme…
    And a two year old who was in Heaven 🙂
    He may have had a little help with this snowman 🙂

    Day 10: Build a nativity set!

    Michaels saves the day again. Elliott pretty much couldn’t do anything to put this together other than punch out the foam pieces, but he LOVED the activity. He also LOVED taking it completely apart the next day :/. And, for some reason (?) the many, MANY little separate mini pieces have provided hours upon hours of entertainment for him…he just sticks them all together and then unsticks them and then REPEATS… Hey, more power to him.

    Punching out the GAZILLION tiny pieces….
    He put all the completed put-together people and animals in their places…
    And here we have our very own little “homemade” nativity set.

     

    Day 11: Wear Christmas jammies all day, make Christmas cards and mail them out!

    This was a good idea that went very, very badly. Note to self for next year: wear smocks over Christmas jammies. Or wear Christmas jammies on movie day (which, now that I think about it, makes WAY more sense…) Elliott got a TINY amount of paint on his Christmas jammies and it was ALL OVER from there. Melt down city. Fortunately, once the jammies had been washed, he recovered and we were able to finish the Christmas cards :). And just look at how cute they are in those jammies!

    Oh my goodness…is he MY kid, OR WHAT?!! HAHAHA!!!!
    Got the thumbprint lights idea from Pinterest and then we added our own captions :).

    The green “lights” were Selah’s thumb…obviously completely guided by me. I also ended up guiding Elliott’s thumb, too…I think if he had had a better day 🙂 he may have been able to do it himself, but he definitely needed help. Probably a better craft for 3 and ups.

    Day 12: Make a Christmas decoration for the house with Selah!

    An adapted Pinterest idea

    Day 13: Family Movie night with popcorn (Veggie Tales Christmas)

    This was one of those days that I was grateful Elliott can’t read yet :). At the last minute we decided to have some friends over for dinner so it ended up needing to be a FRIENDS movie night. When I pulled out the card I carefully said, “Well, tonight you get to watch a new movie with your FRIENDS!” Haha…

    Day 14: Go out to breakfast as a family

    Because at the very last minute we decided to ditch the idea I had planned of going to a Winter Fest…so we came up with this super creative idea very quickly…haha :).

    Day 15: New Christmas book, hot cocoa & carols

    Day 16: Work a brand new HUGE nativity puzzle!

    If you don’t know already, this kid LOVES puzzles. We haven’t gotten him a new puzzle in a very long time and he can practically work all of his with his eyes closed. So I searched around and FINALLY found this one…which is AWESOME! It was the perfect level of challenge for him.

    And it was huge, which was really fun. He’d never done a floor puzzle before.
    Selah really, REALLY wanted to help but her “help” was frustrating the puzzle master at work. So I tried to distract her with her own while he finished up…
    Almost done!!
    Tah-dah!!

    Day 17: Make special treats for our friends!

    He helped me make Mint Brickle!

    Day 18: Make presents for our friends (and Daddy…shhh) and deliver everything to our friends!

    I really wanted to do something along the lines of giving, and this was a good start. Due to a variety of circumstances, he only actually got to DELIVER the treats and little presents to one family (because the rest ended up coming over!), but it was still really fun!!

    I got this idea from Pinterest, but adapted it by using bells (instead of wooden beads) for the heads and figuring out how to use the pipe cleaner to hold it all together so I wouldn’t have to use glue. (Because who wants GLUE on their Hershey’s kiss??”
    Then we put them in baggies and stuck this little message on there to go along with the verse they were all learning during kids church…
    I got this picture-puzzle idea from Pinterest. Though he couldn’t really help place the strips of the picture on because that needed to be exact, he could paint the modge podge on himself!
    Fun, huh? And we kept it a secret from Daddy until Christmas Day!

    Day 19: Peppermint Day!

    Oh man, this was so much fun that I’m thinking about doing a Peppermint WEEK next year…Maybe I could do themed weeks like “Snow Week,” “Peppermint Week,” etc…and do things each day that correlate. We all dressed in red and white, ate candy canes and Elliott did two candy cane crafts. Favorite quote from the day: As Elliott took his first bite of candy cane, he said, “I like it! It’s cold!” I said, “The candy cane is cold??” He responded, “Yeah–see?” as he breathed out super heavily. “See???” And he breathed out again. I realized he was trying to articulate that cool, pepperminty feeling that you get when you eat mint! Haha…I love it :).

    After several failed attempts to get all three of us in our candy cane clothes in a pic, this one will have to do :). You can see how cute the kids are and I am wearing a white shirt and a red vest :).
    This was SO simple and SUCH an age-appropriate, GOOD craft for Elliott. I simply cut out a white candy cane shape. We talked through how to mark every other stripe red, and then he colored in the stripes with red dots in them.
    He then dipped cotton balls and red pom poms in glue and had to place them on the red and white striped parts!
    Here he is, showing off his completed candy cane artwork while singing, “Angels, We Have Heard On High.” And Selah is posing near him because she just assumes that’s what she’s supposed to do when I have the camera out :).
    He also did the classic “pony beads on pipe cleaner candy cane ornament.” They were out of red and white beads at the store, so I had to go with a multi-pack, but as we started the craft I realized it was better this way–it provided one more element of challenge. This was another super age-appropriate craft for him as he had to think about patterns, and he was able to do the whole thing entirely by himself.
    What a cutie with a cool candy cane!

     

    Day 20: Wrap your own “presents” while Mommy wraps presents!

    Another GREAT idea (I thought) from Pinterest that went horrible :). Wrap up a sheet pan from the dollar store, stick magnets on bows, and there you have your very own “presents.”  The blog post I got it from talked about how this provided hours of entertainment for the kids. “Perfect!” I thought. Well…not in this household :). Elliott kept snatching Selah’s bows from her so she couldn’t decorate hers and even after correcting him several times he just couldn’t keep his hands off her present. After multiple rounds of tears, correction, discipline, second chances…I just put the “presents” away and decided to wrap mine at nap time. Oh well…it’s the thought that counts, right? Haha. 🙂

    I took this picture MUCH later on…not on the day that it didn’t go so well :).

    Day 21: Go to a Christmas party!

    Day 22: Zoo lights!!

    We met up with our friends the Sundbys and although it was FREEZING and Selah was not a happy camper unless she was walking BY HERSELF :/, it was really fun to go.
    I think Elliott somewhat liked it, but his favorite part was…
    DEFINITELY the REAL elephant that we got to see.

    He kept asking the whole time where all of the animals were, and so I told him they must have been sleeping. Almost every day since then he has asked me if the giraffes are awake yet :). When we got in the car afterwards, I asked him if he had had fun. He answered, “Tiny bit.” 🙂 So maybe we’ll skip this next year when he’s not free anymore…

    Day 23: Make nativity puppets

    This was just like the nativity set from Michaels, but puppets instead. Again, all he could (mostly) do was punch out the foam pieces, but he just LOVED this craft, and had so much fun playing with the puppets.

    Well, because I think I’ve already far surpassed writing the world’s longest blog, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day details are in another blog post :). Click on the link to read all about it!

  • Out of the mouths of toddlers…

    Out of the mouths of toddlers…

    Most days, Elliott completely overwhelms me. I honestly just marvel at the intricacies of how God made him…and live in a constant overflowing gratitude that God picked HIM to be our son…

    He is so stinking smart. Brian and I can be having a conversation, in the other room, in our total “adult” language (fast, not tempered for kids, big words, vague…) and Elliott ALWAYS picks up on EVERY LITTLE THING WE SAY. He’s been like this for a long time, but in the last few weeks he’s picked up on such small nuances that I am just totally blown away. I could–literally–give you dozens of examples, but I’ll give you just one here, that was embedded into our day today:

    So last week we FINALLY broke down and bought Elliott some pajamas. 98% of his pajamas have been hand-me-downs, and so they are really…umm…well loved. 🙂 They all have holes in the feet and are just too small. Elliott is extremely tall for his age and we are squeezing him into these well-loved, holey-footed 3T pajamas. It doesn’t help that he LOVES his footed jammies, is EXTREMELY particular about which set he wants to wear each day, and then he wants to wear that particular pair all day long.

    “Mommy? Are ALL kids so tall that their toes poke through their jammies like this?”

    ANYWAY, I finally ordered him a few new pairs, size 4T. So a few nights ago, I told him that as he pointed out the holes in the footie parts of his pajamas. I said, “Oh, guess what, Big Man?! I ordered you some new jammies without holes in the feet!” Well, I should have guessed, but then he wanted them “WIGHT NOW!” (which is his latest favorite phrase, ha!)

    “New jammies, wight now!” he kept saying. So I explained (four times) that it would take a few days for them to get here and we would have to be patient.

    SO, that brings us to today. We hadn’t talked about the new jammies in several days, but as I was changing his diaper I started thinking about them. I didn’t want to say anything to remind him of the new jammies on the way, so I carefully selected my words to Brian. “Hey, Babe, I wonder when my Carter’s order is going to come in?”

    And. Elliott. Says.

    “New jammies!! New jammies!!!!!!”

    And I just stared at him with my jaw on the ground. Elliott has never been to Carter’s, nor do I shop their regularly–how could he have possibly known what I was talking about?!!!  “How on EARTH did you know I was talking about your new jammies???” I asked, incredulously.

    “New jammmmmmmmies!!!!” he exclaimed with a big smile.

    So I walked into the kitchen and asked Brian, “How on EARTH?!! Seriously, HOW ON EARTH could he have known that??”

    Brian responds, “He must be omniscient!”

    So a couple hours later, Elliott and I were playing with his little Fisher Price people. Elliott LOVES these ancient Fisher Price people and animals.

    Playing with ancient people and animals in ancient pajamas…does life GET much better than this?

     

    He pulled out the teacher and said, “Teacher, tractor!” and put the teacher in the tractor. So I said to him, “Hey, Buddy! Do you know that in lots of years, about 20 or so, you will get to choose to do a job that you want to do? A teacher is one job…what do you want to do when you grow up?”

    Look closely…see the teacher driving the tractor?

     

    “Jesus,” he calmly smiled in response.

    Now, although he’s ALWAYS had a supernatural draw towards Jesus, and although I was 99% certain that he said, “Jesus,” I thought it was WAY too clever, cute, and awesome to be true. So I challenged him a bit.

    “A teacher? You want to be a teacher?” (No pressure here…ha!)

    “No…JESUS!” he said.

    Our son wants to grow up to  be Jesus. So either that’s the most blasphemous thing anyone has ever said, or…he really IS omniscient. You can decide for yourselves :).

    In the meantime, check out what our all-knowing 2 year-old learned to do a few days ago…just in time for the toddler spelling bee!! We finally caught it on video today :).

     

  • More DA MORE!!!

    More DA MORE!!!

    Elliott’s very first real word was, “more.” He had been saying “Mama” and “Dada,” but “more” was the first word that he used in context and consistently. And other than, “Uh-oh,” it is still his favorite word. When he’s especially passionate, he doesn’t just say, “more,” he yells, “More DA MORE!!!”

    He uses it all the time, in every scenario you can possibly think of.

    I’ll never forget one of the first times we were at Sea World watching the dog show (dogs are HIS FAVORITE). The “Who let them dawgs out” song blasted loudly as dogs of every type sprinted out from behind stage and into view, running to the beat of the music. I looked at Elliott and said with expectation: “Big guy!! Do you see all the dogs?!?! Aren’t they so cool?!!!”

    “MORE!” he insisted, bluntly and impatiently.

    This is–literally–how ALL of our conversations go:

    “Elliott, did you have fun playing with your friend?”

    “More!”

    “Elliott, did you like going to the zoo?”

    “More!”

    “Elliott, was that a yummy special treat that you had?”

    “More!”

    Elliott, you did so great throwing that ball!

    “MORE!!”

    “Elliott, are you grateful that we got to take a special airplane ride??!!”

    “More DA MORE!”

    He is simply not able to truly enjoy or appreciate the present because he’s always looking to the future, and he wants to make it very clear that we know that he wants more of that thing that he loves.

    And my heart breaks. Doesn’t he know that I long to give him “MORE”? Doesn’t he know that it fills my heart with utmost joy to lavish him with good things? Doesn’t he know that I want to spend the rest of my life giving him good gifts, whether the form of those gifts looks like special play dates, balls, a chance to serve, or every-once-in-a-while–sugar?! Doesn’t he know that his daddy has to literally hold me back from buying every thing I see in Target that I know will bless him???

    But mostly, the state of his heart breaks mine because he reminds me so much of me, and my heart towards my Father.

    Sometimes when I am really, really, really grateful for something, a sneaky lie creeps its way into my mind and quickly tries to convince me that that something will be taken away. So as a result, I cannot fully celebrate gifts or the ones whom I love because of this little lie that they will probably be snatched from my hands. It is a rotten trick, but nonetheless it has been trying to persuade me to grab hold of its false comfort every since I can remember. “If you don’t embrace it too much, it won’t be as hard on your heart when it’s taken away…”

    I remember being a little girl and not being able to fall asleep some nights because I was so afraid that my parents were going to die. One specific night when I was about 4 years old, I cried and cried one night in bed until I finally ran to my mom for solace. And I don’t remember anything that she said, but I clearly remember what she did. She scooped me up, sat me on her lap, held me close, and rocked me. What brought peace? Not promises of what the future would hold, but the comfort and security of my mama’s love.

    Fear robs. It robs from me. It robs from us. My God is not a God whom I should look upon with fear, because there is, simply, “no fear in love,” (1 John 4:18) and He is all-consuming Love. My God is not a God who tells me that I should live in fear, because He has “not given us a spirit of fearfulness” (2 Timothy 1:7).

    It’s difficult to put into words how grateful I am for all that the Lord has given me in this simple life I lead. It is not glamorous or easy, but it is perfect. Perfect because of the ones I get to do this crazy life with.  He’s given me a husband who adores me and lays his life down for me. Children who bring me more delight than I ever could have imagined possible. Friends who love us. Family who takes care of us.  Yet as I approached my 31st birthday, and I examined the state of my heart, all I could honestly find was, “More DA MORE!!!” I don’t want more things, I don’t want more money. I simply want more time with the ones that I love. More days with my daughter, more days with my son, more days with my very best friend who has added such a tremendous amount of joy in the last few years that he has loved me. I want more giggles with my Selah and more tickles with my Elliott. I want more games of “Get you!” and more rides on the swings. I want more soccer and I want more tea parties.

    And, of course, all of that is GOOD! It’s good for me to want more time with my family instead of less! It is good for me to miss my husband like CUH-RAZY when he hasn’t even been away from me for 24 hours. But it’s not good when there’s fear robbing from my gratitude. It’s not good when I am so concerned about what tomorrow may or may not bring that I can’t fully, fully value and enjoy today. 

    Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts…and be thankful.” Don’t you love how the “peace of God” precedes thankfulness? I do. Not peace from financial security. Not peace from a known future. Not peace from the guarantee of prosperity. No, what brings peace? The comfort and security of my Father’s love. I love that it is only because I am at peace with Him, at peace with His love for me, that I have the ability to be thankful.

    Peace from His perfect love, which covers and fills me. The peace of God.

    Because of THIS: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11).

    Ahhh, peace. HE longs to GIVE me more…more than I can fathom. Sometimes I think of Elliott and how little he really understands about the world. To him, Heaven would be a ball pit filled with every type of sports ball that there is. And while that does sound great, 🙂 he doesn’t even know…oh, he has no idea of the incredible joys that will be made known to him as he grows…the incredible gifts just around the corner. He, like me, literally cannot fathom what MORE there is to come. And that’s okay. I only desire for him to take great delight in the gifts and treasures of today, and simply trust that I long to give him more.

    So this year, I desire MORE. More understanding of God’s love for me. More revelation of how much he lavishes me in love. More trust that He desires to give me good gifts. More peace in my heart that allows me to be filled with real gratitude..

    Real gratitude for DA MORE…

    More play dates at the park with my son, throwing balls, climbing high and swinging hard.

    My morning birthday buddy.

     

    More special treats at a cute little coffee shop, reading books together in a new, fun place.

    Because SOMEONE’S gotta treat this birthday girl to a latte with whipped cream the size of her face when Daddy’s out of town!!

     

    More HUMONGOUS, MEDAL-WORTHY tantrums thrown upon leaving said cute little coffee shop, if it means that I get to be the one to train and shape my son into becoming a godly, wise, filled-with-self-control man.

    (No picture available. I’ll leave the scene of me trying to get him into his car seat while screaming, crying, and flailing next to a busy road up to your imagination.) 🙂

    More scraped up knees and bloody faces if it means we were playing a rousing and hilarious game of “who can get the ball first?”

    But you shoulda seen the other guy…

     

    More special birthday outfits of yoga pants and maternity t-shirts (not because I’m pregnant! Only to hide my post partum belly!) because my crying, wounded son’s pee leaked completely through his diaper and onto my much-cuter, pre-blood and pee clothes while I was consoling him.

    Well, at least I was showered when he peed on me!

     

    More snuggles and kisses from my baby girl, who was so excited for my birthday today that she woke up earlier than she has in 4 months so we could start celebrating during the 5am hour…

    Worth EVERY extra minute of missed sleep.

     

    More ribbons and bows from my teething, fussy, adorable little blue-eyed beauty!

    “If you’ll just let me chew on this spoon, I’ll stop crying.”

     

    More laughter and love from this perfect face …

    Elliott is entertaining her; can you tell she simply adores him??

     

    More fun treats that bring the perfect end to hilarious days…

    Wine. Birthday cake. Mint chocolate chip ice cream. Pikes Peak. Yes, please.

     

    More, more, MORE of my handsome, strapping husband. More emails and text messages and phone calls from the love of my life, who has lavished me with celebration today, even from thousands of miles away.  Who lavishes me with celebration every day, loving me and exhorting me and encouraging me and spurring me on and fanning me into flame and filling me with truth.

    Mother’s Day

     

    MORE. More DA MORE!! of days and days filled with the peace of my Everlasting God, which drives me to gratefully enjoy the many abundant and perfect gifts that He has lavished upon me.

    Happy 31st birthday to me!! And may I have many MORE DA MORE!! 🙂