Confession Time

I have a confession to make.
The only reason I'm outing myself like this is because I know there's some other momma out there that will relate to me.
I've read so many blogs about amazing Advent calendar ideas.
I think this one is my favorite.
Doing fun activities every day leading up to Christmas.
And not stressing over it.
Just making it fun and meaningful.
My goal is to do something like that next year.

And here comes my horrible confession.
It comes in the form of a picture. 

Yup. That's my Advent calendar from this year.
Pretty much the worst Advent calendar mom in America.
It wasn't bad enough that I bought it from the One Spot at Target...meaning $1.
I only got Anna to glue on 2 pathetic looking cotton balls on it.
In my defense, we left our house on the 21st and just returned this week.
Ok that's not much of a defense.
Nevermind ;-)
I'm making a New Year's declaration (because I like that word better than resolution) right here and right now.

AS LONG AS MY LIFE IS NOT TOTALLY CRAZY IN DECEMBER, I WILL DO A SUPER FUN AWESOME ADVENT CALENDAR FOR MY CHILDREN!

Did you see that "out" I gave myself?
I don't like to fail ;-)

Ok momma's...who had an advent calendar fail this year??
Don't leave me hanging out here all by myself!

Eat Cheese...Get Cracker

Ellie is getting to the age where she is understanding right from wrong.

She is starting to understand cause and effect.

And she is starting to understand consequences.

At lunch one day, she asked me for more cheese.

"mo.  cheese.  pease."

So I got her some.

Well...she decided she didn't want to eat it.

In this house, if you ask for more of something, you are expected to eat it.

Or at least eat SOME of it.

To help her along in this lesson I placed an animal cracker on the table.

And a tiny piece of the cheese she was refusing to eat.

Thus began the epic battle of...

EAT CHEESE...GET CRACKER

Here is a pictorial view of this training session :-)

(please excuse the crumbs on the table - she's a messy eater)



"I want that Mommy"



"What?  I can't have that?"



"I have to eat that first?"



She ate the cheese! (after about 5-10 minutes of whining and crying and sitting quietly and contemplating)  And is enjoying her animal cracker!



"Whew...that was a lot of work."



"But so worth it!"





Embrace the Camera - Thailand Style

Even while in Thailand, I was able to Embrace the Camera with my kids!

We Skyped with them almost every day.

The time change (12 hours) made it difficult...

but we would try to catch them while they were eating breakfast...

or right before they went to bed.

This is me and Ellie on a Skype call :-)

And that is how you Skype with an 18 month old.

Make funny faces and tell her that you love her :-)

I was SO thankful for technology while we were half way around the world...

LITERALLY!

my babies on another Skype call

We were on the search for free wifi every where.

I had to stay connected for my own sanity.

My kids were like a billion miles away and I HAD to be within an email away from them.

I couldn't stand the thought of not being able to know how they were doing.

Here we are taking advantage of free wifi at a Starbuck's at a mall.

This is me Skyping on my iPhone in a coffee shop in another mall.

Did I mention there were a lot of malls in Bangkok??

Steve had to shoosh me a few times...

I had my earbuds in and was probably making silly noises a little too loud ;-)

But I didn't care!

I was talking to my babies!

I can't even imagine what it was like being in foreign countries years ago away from your family.

before internet...

before email...

before Skype...

When all you could do was make a super expensive phone call or write a letter.

Wow.

Thankful for technology.

And now I'm thinking of Napoleon Dynamite :-)

Joining Emily with ETC

Travel Apps - Thailand

Is this not the busiest time of year?!

Goodness gracious.

If it isn't a Fall Festival...it's an oppurtunity for my girls to wear their costumes.

And you know I'm going to show those off as much as I can!

And did I mention that Hubby and I are going to Thailand on Saturday?!
As in...tomorrow!

Umm..ya.

We're kinda busy.

I was worried that our trip might get cancelled.

There is flooding in Bangkok right now with more on its way.

The leaders of the conference we're helping to run have been in prayer about it...a lot.

As of this moment...we're still going.

The area our hotel is in and the airport are still bone dry.

Hoping it stays that way for the next couple weeks!

So you might be seeing some blog posts from Thailand next week!

ooo getting all International on ya!

With that being said.

I wanted to share a travel app tip.

My hubby tracked down one really cool one that I'm sure we'll use in Thailand.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand developed this one.

Makes me think that a lot of other countries and cities may have similar apps.

Make sure to research that before your next trip.

There might be a really useful app just waiting for you!

Speak Thai



Speak Thai on iTunes

It translates over 2500 words and speaks in Thai for you.

Now when I need to go potty...

I just find "Where are the restrooms?"

and the app will ask for me.

phew...that's a relief (horrible pun intended) :-)

I'm off to finish packing and prepare myself to leave my babies for 2 whole weeks.
{sigh}
I mean...I'm not one of those moms that misses their kids when they're sleeping
or anything crazy like that ;-)
I'll be ok.
But I'm pretty sure I will miss them while I'm half way around the world.
Yikes!
{deep breath}



I mean...seriously?!



Embrace the Camera - Turkey Pumpkin

Best and easiest pumpkin decorating EVER!!

At a garage sale a couple weeks ago...

I opened a box to find some painted wooden turkey parts.

A head and five feathers.

I instantly knew what it was for and confirmed with the lady selling it.

I think I got it for around $1

(it was bundled with other things...so it's hard to say exactly)

Bottom line...it was CHEAP!

We decorated our pumpkin in like 2 minutes :-)

With no mess...I might add!

We'll probably carve one next year...

but for this super busy month...

it made my life so much easier!

We just shoved a couple things in the pumpkin...





my concentration face lol



And...we're done.





Anna was not cooperating...so I got a pic with my Ellie.



I look tired and my hairs a mess...captures me pretty well lol



***Embracing the Camera with Emily***

Embrace the Camera - Love my Girls

Here's the back story to these cute pictures.

After naptime, Ellie was fussy and tired.

Why the child won't just sleep longer is beyond me!

So she was laying on my chest while I layed on the couch.

I thought...Embrace the Camera Picture!!!

So I asked Anna to go get my phone and take our picture on the couch.

Yes, my 3 year old totally knows how to use my iPhone.

So she took some pics and as I reviewed them I decided my arm looked majorly huge.

Not going to work what with posting it on the World Wide Web.

I like keeping it real and all...but even I draw the line somewhere.

So I adjusted my position...so as to make my arm look skinnier.

AKA fake a skinny arm

Then Anna, all on her own, decided to do one of those

I'll hold the camera out in front of us and try to get everyone in the shot type of pictures.

She's fun.

And here's what came out.

I love my girls :-)









beautiful Anna



cute grumpy Ellie



 

Would you like to Embrace the Camera with us??



My Big Little Girl

I learned something about my daughter this weekend...she's pretty much amazing!

My family got a stomach bug this weekend.

First, Ellie got it on Thursday.

Her first "incident" in her carseat.

Daddy had to be called for backup...caus this Momma was about to have an incident herself.

Oh my...I don't wish that on anyone!

Then it was poor Anna's turn.

I had been on a women's retreat with my church and had been home seriously 5 minutes.

I went to check on Anna, because she was still awake yelling for us.

And...she threw up on me.

[sigh]

That was a first.

Welcome Home Mommy!

And she proceeded to be sick about 8 more times that night.

But let me tell you a little about her character.

This 3 1/2 year old child NEVER cried about it.

She NEVER even complained about it.

And she thanked us every time we brought back her trash can after cleaning it out for her.

I mean seriously...who are you??

I'm going to be honest here.

When I am that sick...I cry...a lot.

I cry out of pity for myself.

I complain about it.

I lament over the fact that I'm going through something so horrible.

She is such a strong person.

I am so proud of her.

I have even more reason to love my big little girl.

I cannot wait to see her grow up.

She's going to be a pretty amazing woman some day.

Leaving a Legacy

If your death preempted live prime time television...you're a pretty big deal.

I think we would all agree that Steve Jobs has left quite a legacy here on earth.  He will forever be known as a creative genius, innovative genius, business genius, visionary genius, and just all around smart guy.

His death has reminded me of my desire of leaving a legacy too.

Before I had kids...before I was even married...I imagined my kids running around the house singing "Jesus loves me this I know..."  It was kind of symbolic of how I wanted to raise my children to know Jesus.  To know how much he loves them.  To know the price he paid for them.  To know him as their friend and Savior.

But I don't just want my kids to have a relationship with Jesus.  I want their kids to know him...and their kid's kids to know him...and their kid's kid's kids to know him.

I want them to remember their Great Great Great Grandma Cheryl - the one who loved Jesus.  I want to be up in heaven and be surrounded by the family Steve and I created on earth.

That's the legacy I want to leave.

Now if only I can keep that perspective all the hours of the day.  You know...the hours where your child is disobeying you for the umpteenth time, or peeing their pants, or hitting their sibling, or just plain on your last nerve.  That's when I am most thankful for God's grace.  Because the Lord knows I do not always display the most "Jesus Loves You" attitude during those hours.

I pray the Lord brings my children to himself despite my bad attitude hours.  And he is more than able.

What kind of legacy are you leaving?

Embrace the Camera - 9/22/11

I succeeded this week in getting a cute pic with Anna!

There's actually a cute story behind it.  Anna did a not so nice thing and she and Daddy had a little talk in the other room.  Then she came to me in all her cuteness to apologize.  We were hugging it out after her apology.  Sometimes she can be so sweet.

Then we got a little silly...



Join us...





Fun at a Hotel

I'm a full time mom and part time conference planner.  It's such a great outlet for this stay at home mom that needs adult interaction and responsibilities that don't include diaper changing and nose wiping.  It's turned out to be a fun thing for our family too.  My hubby gets to use his AV/Tech skills and my kids get to be around lots of people...and that's pretty much their favorite thing...besides swinging for like 5 hours straight...ya I think that would top the list.

I helped with a conference this past weekend and hubby and the kids and I all stayed at the hotel for several days.  My hubby and I work for Campus Crusade for Christ, a ministry that brings the love of Christ to people all over the world.  This conference was for people who have spent 1 or 2 years overseas and are now joining with our ministry full time.

The girls loved staying at the hotel!

They took their babies (and pan of Melissa & Doug brownies...<sigh> Anna) on walks...

They played in the window sill...



They ate breakfast in their pj's...



They hugged it out...

They swung with their babies...

And walked around...a lot...



My First Embrace the Camera

First time participating in Emily's Embrace the Camera!

I would just like to say that I did not pick this picture because of my awesomely tanned legs (that's sarcastic in case you can't tell!), but because I was being a little silly with my Anna.  Hope she remembers that side of me when she's older.

Awkward Bible Stories

Now that Anna is at the ripe old age of 3 she is really starting to understand what's going on.  Her life is no longer as foggy as it once was.  She's putting the pieces of the puzzle of life together.  So this has had an effect on what we say around her, what we say to her, who we want her to be around, what we want her to see and listen to, etc, etc.  But I never thought that it would be awkward to read the Bible with her.  But it is!  Oh my gosh!  There aren't hardly any G rated stories in there! 

We recently got the Jesus Storybook Bible and I LOVE it.  Lots of people have recommended it to us and we finally got around to getting one at a Border's (that's going out of business and everything is on sale!).  Actually, my mom was with us and she offered to get it for us.  Bonus!  Thanks mom!

Anyways, back to the point... So...I was reading the story of Abraham and Isaac to Anna the other night before bed.  You know...the story where God asked Abraham to basically kill his son and Abraham was like ok and then God stopped him at the last minute and didn't make him do it?  Ummm ya...that's awkward to talk about with a 3 year old.  The way the Jesus Storybook Bible "spun" it was focusing on the fact that God always provides what we need exactly when we need it (ie. the ram for the sacrifice, and Jesus).  Now I say "spun", but really the reason why I love this children's Bible is because they don't water down the stories and make them something they are not.  It told the story straight up and then added their "spin," which is always to point the children to Jesus.

After we read a Bible story with Anna we like to ask her "Now what was this story about?" to help her remember and retain.  I was praying she didn't ask any questions!  How do you explain this story to a 3 year old?!  Luckily, she didn't ask any questions and I hurriedly closed the Bible and put her to bed. 

Am I the only one that feels this way??  I'm not going to stop reading the Bible to my children, but my goodness, I'm imagining some crazy awkward conversations in the near future about murder, incest, suicide, polygamy, adultery, and who knows what else.  Yikes!  I guess it's better she hears about those things from her parents first....still not looking forward to it though!

Please tell me I'm not alone!

Having a Bad Mommy Day?

This really spoke to me today.  I've ended way too many days with tears and regret. 

Read on for some Mommy encouragement...

What Every Mom Needs To Know After a Bad Day