Merry Christmas

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

 "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

You'll need seat belts for your ears!

Do you like to laugh your pants off?

No, I mean laugh so hard you'd thing you need seat belts for your ears!?!

Then laugh at this!

The IT Crowd is one of THE GREATEST shows ever created!

British humor rocks!

Twas The Night Before Christmas

Christmas is by far my favorite time of year. Growing up, my family had so many wonderful memories and traditions. Christmas decorations went up in early November and often stayed until mid February. I fondly recall the year when we had to buy a new Christmas tree because the one we had was completely dead a week before Christmas! Now that Christmas time is here again, I'm constantly flooded with warm fuzzies brought on by flashbacks to childhood. This little gem is one of them. The other night I sat up late sewing, as usual, and happened to catch this on tv. Erik and both got excited! We were suddenly five years old, glued to the little tv in my parents kitchen.

Enjoy this with your kids. Or some cocoa!
Or your kids and cocoa! Go Christmas crazy!

Untitled

Sometimes a random picture posted on my facebook wall makes my day :)

The Gruffalo

How did I not know about The Gruffalo? Seriously!?! I used to pride myself on knowing what children's books were just plain awesome. Some how I've failed. I had no idea The Gruffalo even existed. I do now!

This is quite possibly my new favorite story/video/awesomeness ever! Just don't get attached to the butterfly...

The kids and I caught this little treasure on ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas this week. We have a fondness in this house for all thing foxy so this little story was a perfect fit. The music is enchanting and the animation is beautiful. So grab yourself a cookie and snuggle up with this tale of wit. I think I'll do that right now!

Seriously! Go Watch it!

Gruffalo crumble anyone?

Oh Bother... The Biggest Catch Up Post Ever

Where does time go? No seriously! Time eludes me all the... well all the time! Ideas for posts pop in and out of my head, mostl never to be written. Precious 'blogging time' is taken up with equally important things like potty training, refereeing toddlers, hiding candy canes from small sticky fingers and vacuuming. Lots and lots of vacuuming! Blogging (and lets be honest, just about everything else) gets pushed to the wayside when you parent small children. And I'm ok with that.

So let's see, where did I leave off? October, Halloween, Birthday, Thanksgiving!

October is a very busy month for our family. We have my birthday, Uncle Tony's birthday, Auntie Jessi's birthday, Grandpa's birthday and the twins birthday. Plus there are pumpkin patches to visit, suckers to be eaten, carving to be done and Halloween to be celebrated.

 October is the gateway to our family's holiday season and we start with a bang!

The twin's second birthday was a hit! We celebrated at a favorite pizza parlor (where Erik and I had our rehearsal dinner!) with family. Everyone was sick but celebrating Yo Gabba Gabba style was fun none the less. There were rainbow cupcakes to be had and crummy pictures to be taken.

It's hard to believe three years has already passed. My babies are growing up just too darn fast!

Halloween was as anti-climatic as ever. I worked my hiney off for weeks to get their cute little costumes done in time for the big day only to have three sick kids.

We packed up the sick, costumed children and hit the yellow brick road. Or the highway... whatever.

We trick-or-treated in Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood, scored loads of candy and saw the Ghostbuster-mobile.

Fun was had by all and yet again crappy pictures were taken... ugh!

I'll start my summation of Thanksgiving with a disclaimer: crappy pictures! Ok not really crappy, I just didn't bring my camera and had to scavenge pictures from my talented sister. For the past several years my sister's and I have had to spend this (and most other) holiday split between families. It's stressful. It's exhausting. This year we decided we had had enough. The families all came together and rented a hall.

There was food,

there was family, there was crazy dancing.

All in all, it was a great way to spend the holiday. We aren't sure what we'll plan for next year but being able to spend the entire day as one giant happy family was a blessing we'd love to repeat next year.

Well now... that was exhausting. I think this little blog is up to date!

Progress

That's what I'm making....

Progress.

I'm Off To Do Some Sewing...

Tomorrow is destined to be a day of pure sewing. Yes... sewing! I LOVE to sew and am really excited about the little chore I have before me. Donnelly wants to be Dorothy for Halloween. She has never seen the Wizard of Oz and only really wants to be Dorothy because I left the sewing pattern laying around for a little one to find...

What can I say, I love themes! Halloween has never been a big deal for our family. We always made our Halloween costumes when I was a kid and I've always just thrown something together for Ben. Until the twins came along that is. The twins came along the day before Halloween so the holiday has taken on a new meaning for our family. It is just an extension of their birthday! And who doesn't want to dress up and be goofy for a party!?! I still don't go crazy but I like the kids to be... themed. The twins first Halloween was spent in the NICU but the wonderful nurses dressed each baby up in a funny little costume and hat (Liam was a cheetah and Donnelly was a snow leopard of some sort). Our first real Halloween as a family was "Peter Pam". Ben was Captain Hook, Liam was Peter Pan and Donnelly was Tinkerbell. The twins second birthday was fun and low key. Ben was Boba Fett and Liam was Yoda (Star Wars anyone!). When Donnelly turned two she started tooting her own horn. She went as Zoe from Sesame Street, not as Princess Leah as I would have liked. But that's OK. They were all adorable.

This year I was able to get all three kids on board with the Wizard of Oz theme. Donnelly is Doorthy, of course and I gave Ben the choice of any character from the movie. He chose the tin man mostly because he looks like a robot! I decided to do Liam as the scarecrow even though he should really go as one of these little fellows...

Seriously! That's what he looks like!

I'm so excited to get sewing. There's a lot of work to be done... I'd better get started!

One Last Hurrah

With school already in full swing and the chill of fall creeping into the air, our little family itched for one last hurrah.

At the beautiful Pacific Coast! Is that not the most beautiful view ever! I love this wonderful little part of the world!

Ben had the day off of school and Erik was off of work, so we bundled the little ones into the car and made the two hour trek to the beach.

We napped on the drive, sipped sweet tea, listened to music from my sister's wedding and enjoyed the wonderful scenery.

Before too long we pulled up to Rumiano Cheese where we sampled yummy cheeses and ate squeaky cheese that was so fresh! It was still warm! I bought enough to bring home and share with the family... and then went back and bought some more!

After a rather sandy lunch on the beach we played.

And played.

And argued.

And played some more.

There was plenty of running with Papa but thankfully no playing in the icy water.

The little ones soon tired but before hitting the road home, we ventured to a little aquarium. We saw a newborn baby manta ray and stuck our hands in the tank to pet little sharks.

There was fun to be had in the mouth of a shark....

And doing our best to surf like a big kahuna.

But before long the wind kicked up and we took our cue to hit the road.

So until next spring, good-bye Pacific Ocean!

We'll all be dreaming of you!

Don't mind the eating sounds ;)

I had to post this little video that I found on youtube. Sensory Processing/Integration Disorder is so hard to explain to people. This was made simply to help children understand their SPD but it's great for family and friends that are involved with your child, too. Just don't mind the annoying sound effects!

Enjoy!

Goat Milk Soap Lust

I have a confession...

I'm suffering from goat milk soap lust.

This Goat Milk Stuff to be exact.

Isn't it pretty!?!

I need it...

Last year I made my own laundry soap (with Zote, not goat milk soap) and loved how chemical free it was. But I make liquid soap and the soap in the extra bottle got a little... solid over time. I went back to the lovely chemical loaded stuff that I've always used and haven't thought much about it. But this summer, Liam finally had a conclusive allergy test that made me start thinking again. Liam is allergic to cats. Really really allergic. But while we are living at my parents, he'll be living on Zyrtec. He is also highly allergic to all molds, dust mites and dust. That I can do something about! While I've been reading about natural ways to deter mites and mold, tea tree oil has popped up quite a bit. But I can't just throw a little tea tree oil into the laundry, that only solves one of our problems. Donnelly also has eczema. Every kind of soap irritates it! After trying several different 'remedies', I found that only taking one bath a week helps a lot. But she's getting bigger, dirtier and now she's potty training... bathing is becoming more... necessary!

Lucky for me (and not the nasty dust mites!) I was directed to Goat Milk Stuff while reading a 'clean' cleaning post on Mckmama's blog. I ventured to the site and again found tea tree oil. After a little reading I found that tea tree oil is great for eczema! And so is goat milk soap! Hallelujah! I found a great laundry bar soap that I can use to make my own laundry detergent with tea tree oil. Now maybe I can have an itchy-less little girl and a wheezy-less little boy! Plus, it's awesome for the whole family, the environment and it comes from a small family farm! What more could you ask for?

I can't wait to order it and start making my own laundry soap!

(All pictures are from Goat Milk Stuff. And aren't they lovely!)

Held

Life is so often anything but wonderful. Life is so very often filled with trials that turn daily life into a battle ground. We are living in a mine field. We are living with SPD.

My sweet baby Benjamin is struggling. Now before I go into this I have to (for my own broken heart) say that I recognize that what Ben deals with is nothing compared to what so many mother's sweet babies struggle with. He is healthy. He is strong and beautiful. But my heart breaks for the sweet child that is often trapped behind a confused and angry brain. Since school started a few weeks ago, Ben has become a slave to the spectrum. We have all become slaves to the spectrum. It pains me to watch this disorder control my child; to watch it control my family.

I have become frustrated. I've become angry. I want to be bitter. But towards what? My son? My beautiful little boy's confused brain? What then, I have to ask myself. My Creator? The One who made my child so perfectly in him image? So perfectly. It brings me to tears to write that. Ben is so perfect simply because he is made in the image of God. He is so sweetly beautiful because he is exactly who God want him to be. God planted these seeds of struggle, pain, this seed of Autism in my child to mold him into the beautiful person God sees in him. But I couldn't see that. I couldn't see past my own bitterness.

This past week has been rough with Ben. The novelty of school has worn off. He has started to struggle through the day but holds it together... until he gets in the car and war begins. I hate fighting with Ben. I hate to be screamed at. I hate to be told that my child wishes he wasn't part of a family. I hate SPD. I loathe it. I am so defeated by it. We are both so defeated by it. But tonight, my Father spoke to me, as He is so faithful to do. 

Tonight I sought solace in headphones and mindless internet time. Hoarding information that might be the key to freeing my son from this... mess. I can't even come up for the right word. My usual play list of music numbed my ears and drowned out the dark. Then a line from a song that I've listened to a thousand times crushed me. I played that line again. And again.

This hand is bitterness

We want to taste it and

Let the hatred numb our sorrows

The wise hand opens slowly

To lilies of the valley and tomorrow

This is what it means to be held

And it hit me. My bitterness is eating me, it is hindering me from soothing and aiding my child. I have latched on to that bitterness and allowed it to dictated my reaction to everything. I have allowed it to stand between my son and hope; between my son and healing. Bitterness has crept in where hope and patience should have been. It has blinded me from the true purpose of Benjamin's SPD, the true purpose of any thing that breaks our spirit. God is so faithful to gift us with the ability to choose between hanging on to bitterness and anger or finding safe harbor in his arms. He is so faithful to wait for us to come to terms with that bitterness, to leave it behind, to let it go and find hope, patience and healing of our broken spirits in His arms. THIS is truly what it means to be held. To accept this, to grasp that the injustice of a life altering disorder is a beautiful opportunity to turn to our Father. To find peace. To be held.

If hope if born of suffering

If this is only the beginning

Can we not wait, for one hour

Watching for our savior

This is what it means to be held

 

I pray that with the love, strength and guidance of my Father, I can release this hand so tightly fisted to the bitterness that I allow to control me. I pray that He will show me how to help my baby. I pray that he will bring joy back into our lives. That HE will be our joy.

 

 Natalie Grant - Held

Listen to held

Oh The Books That We Read ~ Vol.1

It's our very first...

 Last Winter, Ben was having a very hard time settling down and falling to sleep. He has always had difficulty with transitions but this was becoming a huge problem and interfering with his daily life. After a few weeks of 1am bedtimes and terrible mornings, I went looking for help. I found the answer in a little girls magic finger. No really! I happened to have The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl on the book shelf. So one night Ben and I cuddled up on his bed and read the entire thing. This wonderful little book is only 64 pages long but it solved our transition problem! The simple and time tested act of reading a (mostly) picture less book that required my restless child to listen and picture the story in his own little mind also quieted and calmed him. He fell asleep within minutes. This may seem like a "well... duh" moment for some but it made a huge difference for our family.

Since then Ben and I have read several chapter books together. Bed time has become really a special time for both of us. I'd really like to keep a record of the splendid books that we read and what books the little ones are enjoying as well. So here it is! Oh The Books That We Read!

For our very first entry, I'd like to recap a few of the books that we have read over the spring and summer.

The Magic Finger

by Roald Dahl

(you're going to be seeing this name a lot! He's my FAVORITE!)

Ben and I have read this twice now. It is a pretty quick and easy read. If I recall correctly it is one long story, not a chapter book. This charming story is not for the faint of heart! It is about a little girl that has had enough of her hunting obsessed neighbors. After trying several creative ways to make them change their 'wicked ways', she is forced to put 'the magic finger' on them. As with all Roald Dahl stories, The Magic Finger is filled with wit, danger, action and important life lessons.

Danny Champion of the World

by Roald Dahl

(see, I told you!)

"My father, without the slightest doubt, was the most marvelous and exciting father any boy ever had."

Danny Champion of the World

This is by far my favorite book by Roald Dahl! Maybe my favorite book ever! Danny Champion of the World is best read by a daddy (or in our case, a Papa) to his son. But don't miss out on the wonderfully adventurous book, moms! Danny and his father live in a gypsy caravan, they tend their little gas station on the edge of town and occasionally take off to fly home-built gas balloons. Their beautiful relationship and stunning adventures make this book a treasure! BUT... there is hunting involved. Very much so involved! Check it out for yourself first, then enjoy it! Now I want to read it again...

There are so many other wonderful books the the kids and I have been reading. I can't wait to share them!

It's the thought that counts... right?

This morning I dragged out the vacuum, a daily occurrence at our house. As I did this, Liam jumped up and ran for the stairs, yelling "My baccum! My baccum!" the entire way. He spent the next twenty minutes vacuuming his little heart out with his plastic Fisher-Price vacuum before he got distracted and headed out to vacuum the back yard. It's the thought that counts, I thought. And it hit me...

It IS the thought that counts.

You see I've been pondering returning to the great blogosphere for awhile now but it has been so many months, my children have grown in so many ways, life has changed so much. Could I really come back? I have the heart and desire to blog, the need for an outlet and beautiful memories to record. Is that enough? With two year old twins and a first grader I find little time to do things that I enjoy (besides care for them, I really do enjoy that!). Can I post several times a week? Probably not. But like I said before...

It is the thought that counts.

It is the love, the humor, the memories, the trials, the outlets and the sweet little faces. That is what counts!

So I will return to this wonderful life, with my head held high. I will share good times and the bad, the "Ben-isms" and the baby talk, the joy and the heartache. And I will do it to the best of my ability, with my heart in the right place.

Go Fly A Kite

Let's go fly a kite

Up to the highest height

Let's go fly a kite

And send it soaring

Up through the atmosphere

Up where the air is clear

Oh, let's go fly a kite

Let's go fly a kite!

 

Thank you Mary Poppins, I needed that!

Good Friday and a toddler conversation

Good Friday

Majestic Savior

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree,

that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

By his wounds you have been healed.

1 Peter 2:24

I cried when I watched this. It is so simple but so powerful. He bore our sin in his body. IN HIS BODY. My Jesus, my Savior never ceases to blow my mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I get such a kick out of the twins. It is such a pleasure to watch them get older and gain a firmer grasp on the whole communication thing. Every day I have the privilege of observing them interact with each other in a whole new way.

With words!

Yesterday I witnessed this gem of a conversation between the two of them as Liam sat on the potty and Sissy waited her turn. They both sat, intently looking at a scratch on Liam's knee.

D: Oh owie Weeum!

(Oh Liam! What happened to your poor knee?)

L: Sissy... owie

(I know, its bad Donnelly)

They both poke at Liam's knee a little.

L: MeeMa meeow

(Grandma's cat Boo scratched me)

D: MEEOW!

(Grandma's cat Boo!)

L: Owie... meeow

(It's was really awful...)

D: (Here she just gives him a funny look which I will interpret for you.)

(Well Liam that is what happens when you smack a fourteen year old cat in the face)

L: ....Meeow...

Me: Liam, Grandma's cat scratched your arm. You scratched your knee when you fell in Grandma's garden.

They both just give me one of those looks.

L: (Whips up his sleeve to reveal the real cat scratch)

D: Oh Owie MEEOW!

(Oh Liam! What did Grandma's cat do to your poor arm!?!)

Watching my children grow and learn to truly enjoy and care for each other is one of the greatest blessing I will ever know!

Have a blessed Good Friday!

NOT ME! Monday.... the super short and sweet version!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This will be short and sweet. Why you may ask? Because I have so much to do today! Erik and I certainly have NOT known that we'll be moving since October. There is no way that even though we have known that we have to be out by May 1st, we still haven't started packing. Under no circumstances would we leave finding a storage facility, packing and having a garage sale until just a few short week until we have to move.OH NO NOT US! We're responsible adults.... really we are.

And know just how busy that I should be (packing, storing, moving, and garage sale tagging), there is no way that I started something like QUILTING this week. NO NOT ME! I wouldn't be foolish enough to pick up a time and energy consuming activity like quilting when I know just how busy I should be. Ok.... maybe I did!

Hi Brother!

I am so excited!

Crafting is my favorite thing to do. I love to make bows for Sissy, sew little skirts, crochet dollies and animals, paint, draw, just about anything crafty that I can get my hands on. Lately I have been doing a lot of sewing. When E and I got married my Grandma gave me a wonderful sewing machine that my parents had given her. She was getting older and had a hard time with the digital features of the machine. It's a great little machine. But as I've learned more about sewing and advanced, I've out grown this little machine. So yesterday, after much thought, I bought one of these bad boys! A Brother SE-350:

"Hi Brother!"

Did I mention that I'm excited? Well I am!

Revelation

I can't seem to stop crying.

At what point in your walk, your relationship with Christ do you realize that you are dry. That you are barren.

Empty.

Is it the enemy that blinded my eyes to this painful realization? Or is it my own prideful nature?

The blinders fell from my eyes recently and the pain in my heart, my soul from drifting away from my heavenly father became too much for me to bear. I recently joined a women's Bible study and have been working my way through "Becoming a Woman of Excellence" by Cynthia Heald. God is truly revealing to me who he wants me to become. He has laid the path for me to follow to a beautiful, fulfilling and excellent relationship with him.

But I did not truly realize just how hungry I was, just how desperate I was to be filled once again with Him. I know now. I cannot stop crying.

For Lent I wanted to give up something that meant something to me. Something that really changed my behavior. I struggled with what to give up for days. It couldn't be soda or the internet; failure would follow those for sure. It had to be something different. One day it hit me, hard. I sat in my minivan with my three rambunctious kids listening to my daily dose of talk radio. Depending on the time of day it could be Rush, Hannity, Beck or if you are lucky enough to live in the Pacific Northwest, the great Lars Larson. A great debate filled the airwaves and I was enthralled. So deep in the thick of it that I snapped at my child to be quiet so that I could hear. HE revealed to me then what I was to give up. I reset my radio to KLOVE. It was really hard at first. I didn't know the music and honestly didn't like a lot of it. It took a good week before I stopped reaching for the tune button after every song. But soon my beautiful children started singing along and so did I.

There was a specific song that I had heard in church a few times. It was intense and rubbed me the wrong way when I heard it. So much so that I didn't sing along. I caught it a few times on the radio and didn't think much of it. But yesterday I had the rare occasion to run to the grocery store by myself. In the car this song came on. I knew every word. For the first time in a very long time, I really truly worshiped my God, my Savior. I wept like a baby. He brought me to a very low, low point and showed me just how full he could fill me. This passage broke me:

 

Filled with wonder,

Awestruck wonder

At the mention of Your Name

Jesus, Your Name is Power

Breath and Living Water

Such a marvelous mystery

Allowing Him to fill me.

The song was a mystery to me. I had no idea who sang it or what the title was. Tonight I had some time to myself so I went searching for it. When I finally found it I had to laugh. He is SO AMAZING! The name of the song was Revelation Song. That is truly what it was for me, revelation in a song. I can't seem to stop crying.

Thank you Philips, Craig and Dean and thank you Savior.

Pirates

Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good,

God would permit us to be pirates.

- Life on the Mississippi

Mark Twain

Moving on, quilting and sewing for Nancy

I have been putting off blogging this week. There is a personal post that I started last Monday but can't seem to finish. I couldn't get past it, didn't feel right posting something else so I avoided my blog all together. But this week I spent too much time looking at that post, trying to figure out how I feel about it, how I want to end it. So I put it away and am moving on. I'm rather pleased with that decision.

Since I had so much non-blogging time on my hands this week I got to work! I found this wonderful blog V and Co. with a great pinwheel quilt tutorial. While I've never made a quilt before and I'm a novice seamstress (to say the least!) but I decided to give this quilt a shot. All I have to say is that I am so proud of myself! I had some beautiful fabric left over from a skirt that I made for Sissy. There wasn't enough left for much else but boy was there enough for this quilt. I've been cutting and sewing and cutting and sewing and so on and so on. This is the result so far:

Yesterday Sissy found a cute little doll dress pattern in my craft stuff. She brought it to me and said (and I quote) "Make it!". So I did! I happened to have a ton of this red fabric from a project that never came to fruition, so Sissy got a skirt...

And Fancy Nancy (or as Sissy calls her "Nancy Nancy") got a dress.

Nothing is perfect (can you see the seams on poor Nancy sleeve!?! Goodness!) but I am really enjoying learning to sew. It feels so good to create something!

Want to know what I have not been doing?

Packing! I should get on that....