We visited the museum to see the lego exhibit but the kids were much more excited by the animals and dinosaurs. I don't blame them, the legos weren't great.

On the way home Shelly sang her version of This Old Man, "with a picky pack paddy whack..." until there was a sudden silence - she had fallen asleep.

Archer wrote the letters H and O in the dirt on the back of my car. Fortunately I saw it before we left the garage...

Tonight was Movie Night and though I enjoyed the movie, the better part was cuddling with the kids. Earlier in the evening Shelly let me hold her and we danced and she rubbed her cheek on mine, so sweet. Before that, I dropped the stool on my foot and as I stood there silently Arch asked me if I was ok and then he fixed the stool. So proud. It was a good day.

Praise the Lord, O my soul...

Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
~Psalm 103:1-5

Fwavwit

When Archer says "favorite" it sounds more like "fwa-vwit". We try to correct him but I can't help but wonder if I'll be sad when he doesn't say it that way anymore. Just like Shelly says "melt" without the "l", same goes for "belt".

Archer's favorite part of the day was going to gym class.
Shelly's favorite part of the day was going to the store. (That's what she said but we didn't leave the house today.)
My favorite part of the day was watching Shelly paint with watercolors. She made each line so very carefully, placing each dot with careful precision. Now its hanging on the fridge. And my other favorite part is when Archer got home from school and was overflowing with news on what he did at school. Right now Archer's climbing on my back and Shelly's laying nearby singing. These are my favorite moments.

I recently read something that said "the days may go by slowly but the years fly past." How true!!

PS - Can someone please tell Archer that PDQ does NOT spell any word, and that the same goes for RKL, PFT, and any other random letter combinations he comes up with? He doesn't seem to believe me...

Highlights

Shelly told her dad that the highlight of her day was going to the grocery store with Mom to buy sauce. Archer's summary was that he didn't have his snow pants on today so he wasn't allowed to leave the blacktop during recess. But some of the kids who were wearing snow pants stayed on the blacktop.

Tonight David and I were treated to a spontaneous concert by our children. First Shelly stood in front of us and made up a song, then Archer took a turn at singing the Fire Fighter's song (with his own original lyrics). Then they took turns singing while the other one marched around with a drum. That was definitely the highlight of our day, thanks kids!

10 Minutes

Archer just said to me "it feels like the whole day was only ten minutes."
Translation: Time flies when you're having fun and today was a great day.

Its funny because we didn't do anything incredibly exciting today (well, except for the visit to Grandma and Grandpa which is always exciting!). We made birthday cards and then hopped in the car to deliver them to Grandpa. On the way we practiced singing Happy Birthday and other random songs. After our visit (and some rolling around on the floor with Grandma), we left and made our way to the grocery store. On the way there we saw a street sign for Archer Ave. This was worth at least fifteen minutes of discussion. Was Archer named after a street? Maybe the street was named after Archer. Have I ever seen a Shelly Street, or a Mom Avenue or Dad Avenue? On and on. When we left the store, Archer asked if we could go look at the rocks by Lake Michigan, which I had described as having frosting covering them because of the way the ice had formed as the waves splashed water onto the shore. There wasn't time for that detour today, but no worries, we found much more to discuss. And somehow, through all those little everyday moments strung together, the kids had a good day and we all went to bed smiling and ready for tomorrow.

God reminded me today of the importance in taking the opportunity to have a conversation with the kids instead of turning up the radio; how wonderful it can be to sing a song over and over a hundred times even when I'm sick of it because the kids are smiling; of being spontaneous and jumping in the car to visit family when they least expect it.

Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.
~ Psalm 90:1

Joy

Something I'm trying to practice more often is being cheerful. Showing joy. Smile more often!! Thanks to a website I visit frequently (http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/) and a comment from my son last night, I am reminded that my "neutral" face and tone of voice might not seem so neutral to the kids. Last night Archer said to me, "Mom, do you always wish you never had us?" What a heartbreaking moment! Of course I answered him that I always wanted him and always will. That I love him no matter what. That he needed to come and get hugs and kisses from me that very instant. I need to let the kids see how much joy they bring me, I need to praise them more often so they know I'm proud of them and they know I see the good things they're doing. ("Archer, why would you ask me that?" "Because I'm always being naughty." Ugh!)

Sorry for my failures in showing you how much you matter to me kids, I love you and I'll do better, with the Lord's help!

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

~Psalm 16:11

Grace

Grace.

I've been thinking a lot about this lately. What is grace? Its such a simple word. And I like to think I'm a reasonably smart person, but I can't tell you what it is. So I read the definition, and I guess I get it but it still seems like a concept that's a little far away from me completely grasping. Grace is unmerited favor.

Unmerited Favor.

Someone favoring you even though you don't deserve it, haven't earned it, don't have any right to claim that favor. Is that even a concept that exists in our culture? People really think they deserve everything, and when they don't get it, its an injustice. Is that really true? Do people who don't work hard deserve to have all the luxuries of those who do work hard? Do Americans deserve more luxuries than Africans, just because we were lucky enough to be born here? Americans seem to think so.

I've had to completely quit reading parenting magazines, they drive me crazy. For one thing, they make me feel inadequate for not making sandwichs and snacks that look like cute little smiley faces for every single meal. And another, they write articles about all the fun activities we should be doing with our kids every minute of the day. Well, I agree with these things in principle, except the magazines push everything to such extremes that they don't leave any room for real life. And the reason why this is related to thinking about grace is that the magazines make it seem like our kids deserve every single second of our time, and every thought that passes through our minds every waking minute. All our energy should be devoted to nothing but our kids.

I say, if that is really the case, we are going to be raising some unbalanced, self-centered children, and that's probably why our culture is heading down the wrong path. I love my kids. They deserve my devotion, time, love, attention, energy, and smiley face food making efforts. But don't they have to learn that they're not the center of the universe? Doesn't that mean that they have to see that I spend my time and energy on other things too? Ultimately, of course, I come back to them and they learn that family is the most important thing. But life involves spending time on the important things, and the daily necessities of getting by, working, cooking, cleaning, blah blah blah. So my New Year's Resolution is going to be to spend quality time with my kids more often, but also to quit feeling guilty when I ignore them and fold the laundry for a little while.

2010 Here We Come

Tradition says right now I should be thinking about the past year, or decade, and reviewing all the great things that have happened in our lives. Well, yes, probably. You can name a few, I can name a few. Let's skip to the future, what's this next year going to bring us? I am confident there are many more blessings (and a few trials too, I suppose) to come in the following month, year, decade and further into the future. And now I'm anxious to see what they are, bring it on, Lord, I'm ready to follow you!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
~ Jeremiah 29:11