February Snow

Maybe because it's so cold today or the fact that I slowed down long enough to remember, but I forgot to put Brody's snow pictures from last month on the blog.  Not that anyone wants to see any more pictures of snow, but I want to have it documented.  I'm really ready for Spring weather to start!

The snow came down hard.

Brody with his Nanny

"It's cold!"

The Snow Ball

Ryan, his mom "The Nanny," and Brody

I love this picture!  One of my favorites.

Brody starting to cry once he got so cold.

Our home

My Smoothie King

We love books, and I'm always trying to find ways to continue to promote reading.  Brody typically enjoys non-fiction books.  He really likes books about animals. This week he surprised me by checking out a Disney cooking book from the library.   So we have been picking out some recipes to make.  I do the prepping.  Then he reads the instructions and follows them.  Today we made smoothies.

This was a fun activity for us.  I'm glad to find something new he likes to read...cookbooks!  It even challenged him with his sensory disorder.  Brody was afraid of turning on the blender due to it being loud.  I was not going to do it for him.  If he wanted a smoothie, then he would have to press the blend button on the blender himself.  He was scared, but he did it.  And that great taste was worth overcoming his fear of loud sounds. 

What's in the drain???

"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have for instance." -Franklin P. Jones

Oh Brody! He brings a lot of joy to me.  He also teaches my heart to be patient and calm.

Tonight he comes out of the shower crying.  I asked, "Why are you crying?"

"It's stuck!"

I've heard these words several times over the past six years, and it is never good.

Any guesses as to what is stuck in the shower drain?

It's a shark!

It's a shark stuck about a foot down the drain.  UGH!

Too far for just about anything to reach     except......

For that present from Ryan's dad a couple of Christmases ago.

Pops' saves the day again with

The Turbo Snake!  That's right ladies and gents!  It's as seen on tv!

Here is a very unhappy me, but looking great in my favorite Varsity sweatshirt.

(ooo, an orange Varsity would be so good right now)

An hour of working very hard, Ryan comes home to help.

And wouldn't you know that my awesome man can fix anything!

So the drain is now clean!  And the kid got sent to bed an hour early!!!  It's a win win situation!

Pride

 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Eph. 4:2

I find that the downfall to many families or relationships is pride.  When it's all about "me, me, me," you can't see the other person's needs.  And after a while, you begin to not hardly see the other person at all.  Life will not be very fun when you only see "your wants" "your needs" "your hurts" "your joys" etc. Life is enjoyable when you are sharing your life with someone and they are sharing theirs with you.  I was reading Philippians 2 today, and I was really convicted by verses 3-5.

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus."

I asked myself do I always make sure I humbly count others more significant than myself?  Let's just take it to my inner circle of my family who I love the most in the world.  Are their interests always first?  Am I showing them daily the kind of sacrificial love of Christ?  Some days I do, but there are still days that I am consumed with myself.  To be the best wife and mother I can be, there has to be no selfish ambition.  I'm not serving my family to get them to love me more, but I am serving them just because I love them.  I want them to be happy.  I want them to know they are loved!

One of my greatest fears is that I would be so prideful that I would make my family miss out on a blessing. What if God is trying to lift us up in His time, and I miss it because of pride. 

1 Peter 5:6, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."

To fix my fear, all I have to do is humble myself.   And guess what?  God wants to help me be humble.  Ps. 25:9, "He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way." He will teach me the right way to love people.  All I have to do is bow my heart to God.  Deny myself, pick up my cross, and follow Him.  Isn't it great that when I am weak, He will make me strong!  I become strong by being humble.  I can become the strong Christian woman He has called me to be by getting rid of pride. 

Who doesn't want their family to be the best they can be?  Who doesn't want good relationships with co-workers?  Who doesn't want their ministry to all about bringing glory to God?  What is stopping us?  Pride!  As all good southerners say, "It doesn't have to be my way or the highway."  Just stop. And really look and listen to what is happening to those around you.  Then look out for their interests.  And when needed, be like Jesus and scrub some dirty feet (scrubbing feet is my equivalent to cleaning a toilet). Do whatever needs to be done.  Humble yourself.  Be COMPLETELY Humble and Gentle...not just kind of or on some days. Always be completely humble and gentle. Bear with one another in love!

Do Not Worry

Brody said, "Look at me Mom!  I'm relaxing."

Brody has always been a worrying kind of kid.  Be here lately I see him more relaxed.  I've been praying for a long time that God would give him peace...a peace that passes all understanding.  I desire for him to just be able to enjoy the moment he is in at the time.  Don't worry about "what's next?"  Rest in the right now.


Matthew 6:25-34
²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? ²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Hold Up! Where did January go?

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. ~Carl Sandburg

I looked at the calendar this morning, and I soon realized that January is almost over.  WHOO!  Slow down!  I have not blogged in weeks because I've been too busy.  Even though it's way past Christmas, I'm going to post a few of those pictures.  Just so I have it documented.

We went to Virginia for Christmas to spend time with Ryan's family.  It was a delightful trip!  Brody enjoyed taking the train into DC.  It was his first train ride.  His favorite thing to see was the the space ship at the Air and Space Museum.  He liked the shower in one of the shuttles.  

Brody is very blessed to have Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins who made wonderful memories for him. 

Brody asked for a Slurpee Machine, Super Mario Bros. 2 for the DS, and a Furby for Christmas. 

Brody's Mimi and Corky visited him the day after Christmas.  He loves his Mario remote car from her, but it would not be Christmas without Brody inside of a box.

My favorite memory this year was going to the Charlotte Motor Speedway to look at the lights.  It was great to ride on the track.  Here is us not getting out of the car to take pictures.  My brother Corky is in turn one. 

So now that I have got Christmas out of the way, Happy New Year Bloggy friends!  May 2013 be an amazing for each of you, and may I blog more often.  Our New Year's resolution is to make this year The Year of the Zoo.  We plan on seeing as many animals and zoos possible this year.  Hopefully many pictures and stories to come from different zoos. 

 

A Letter From Santa

Good List Certificate

Brody was delighted to get a letter from Santa!  To him, it's awesome to see and hear that he is on the good list.  There was a kid a year ago who told Brody he was bad, and he would never get a Christmas present.  Oh, how words can break a kid!  So last year when Santa's letter came in, Brody said, "I'm good.  I'm good.  I'm really good!"  The smile on his face as he reads his letter is priceless.  Pops, who is good friends with Santa, has been making sure Brody would get a letter from him for seven Christmas' now.  To a kid, getting mail is great, but there is nothing better than a mail from Santa.  Brody's favorite part of the letter was how proud Santa was of him for scoring a goal in soccer.