"... we are always harking back to some occasion which seemed to us to reach perfection, setting that up as a norm, and depreciating all other occasions by comparison. But these other occasions, I now suspect, are often full of their own new blessing, if only we would lay ourselves open to it. " (C. S. Lewis)



Monday, November 30, 2009

What's the deal with hats?

At some point in the last three months, my baby boy disappeared and a new creature moved into our home. He still resembles my oldest child, but somehow, he's all new.

It all started with Halloween. First, he wanted to dress up like Slash from the group Guns and Roses. I must take a moment to explain that I do not let my 11-year-old listen to Guns and Roses (nor do I recommend that any 11-year-old listen to them). Thanks to Guitar Hero (with the volume turned down or with it set to guitar only), he has been exposed to the incredible guitar skills of Slash and wanted to be him for Halloween. When I googled Slash and showed him a picture of the real man, I asked him if this was the person he wanted to emulate. He responded by saying, "Well, I don't really want to be like him. I just want to dress like a rock star, but I do want his hat." I'll spare you the photo of the rock star, but here's the hat he wanted.




He apparently recognized the error of his ways. Sometimes the same sweet little boy still shows up. So, always trying to please, I scoured every Goodwill store in the state (slight exageration) and came up with leather boots, faux leather pants, and a leather vest. I even found a silk animal print shirt befitting any rock star. Who knew Goodwill would render such treasures. However, I knew that even with all the great finds, he would not be content until we found the hat. The best I could do in my search was a red, white and blue sparkly Uncle Sam hat. You better believe I snatched it up. I don't often get to be my son's hero. He usually reserves that spot for his dad!(Which is how it should be!) But I knew how much he wanted to be a rock star and that this would probably be his last year to dress up, and I was not going home without a hat. Apparently, my son has vision because after his initial frown at a red, white and blue sparkly monstrosity, he came around to my plan. To make a long story short, a can of black spray paint and a 6 dollar girl's belt from Goodwill later, he got his hat. He was thrilled and for one brief moment, I got to be the hero. (I'll add the photo later.)

After all that, do you think I even got to see my son dress up? The one year I was excited about his costume, he decided to trick or treat with friends in a different town.

(Here's a photo of my loyal children. They had a blast with their cousins Emily and Christopher. No picture of Siah yet.)

That was just the beginning of Siah's transformation. Since then, he's been obsessed with hats, at least one hat in particular. His red winter hat says "Fender" on the front. When I told him Fender was the name of some of the best guitars ever made, he decided to make it a regular part of his wardrobe.


And speaking of wardrobe, since when are tidy whities all wrong. Obviously I am behind the times. I just didn't know that when you get in sixth grade you have to change the style of underwear you wear. Now all he wants to wear is boxers. (I'll spare you that photo as well.)

There have been other changes. Some bad. Some good. For instance, he is bored with video games. I asked him, "Who are you, and what have you done with my son?" This can't be (although, I'm thrilled)! How can you be obsessed one day and totally bored the next? To encourage his new love of the outdoors, his dad let him buy a new air gun. Now he's obsessed with squirrels and hunting. We are so not hunting people, at least I'm not. I am definitely not ready for all this change.

Oh, and did I mention the new obsession with money. (Actually, it's not new at all. He's always had an affection for cold hard cash.) He recently went door to door by himself selling coffee for his youth group. He was like a madman running from house to house. He did great. And now that he's older, his dad has encouraged him to "go earn money in the neighborhood". What? He's my baby! That means I can't watch him every second. (Notice how it's his dad pushing him out of the nest! I'm not real happy with him about that.) On his first attempt, he raked yards and came home with $8. He was high as a kite. As much as this new independence scares me, I do love that he's learning the value of hard work.

My son's growing up. I must face the facts. I've never thought about him as a teenager other than knowing what qualities I want to instill in him. This past weekend, we had some friends stop by on their way to dinner. Two of them were friends of our foreign exchange student, Je, several years ago, and they still keep in touch.



Seeing these young men again reminded me that boys grow up. They just do. These boys are fine young men. It made me wonder what my son will be like in five years. I do believe, despite how terrified I am at all these changes, that he is on his way to becoming a fine young man as well. He works at his grades, he is a great big brother, he has a tender heart, he is sensitive to God's leading, he is learning to be a better friend, blah, blah, blah. I could go on. I won't! Interestingly, the changes I see are mostly outward changes. He really is still the same sweet boy he's always been.



Thank you, God, for allowing me to witness this transformation from boy to teen and for helping me navigate these unfamiliar waters. I know You love him more than I ever could, and I rest in the promise that You will finish the work you've already begun in him. Help me help him along the way.

Busy Little Bee

The weekend was a blur, so I haven't had time to write. I've been quite the busy little bee lately in my few quiet moments. Here are some projects I've finished recently.

'Believe" Frame


"Christmas Memories" Frame


Custom First Birthday Block order


Here's what I'm working on now. This one's for my own tree. I'll give you a quick peak and then I'll show you the finished project later.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

A Perfect Day

Thanksgiving morning at our house (in my dreams):
I woke before the boys this morning so I made pumpkin maple pancakes for breakfast and the house smells wonderful. The house is clean because my boys and their dad, of course, cleaned all night last night while I celebrated my birthday with friends. (Doesn't every mom want the house clean to celebrate a holiday? It just makes the day go better.) I've already begun preparations for our dinner. The turkey is in the oven, the pies are cooling on the counter, and the fire is crackling in the fireplace. Friends will be arriving later to share our table, and we will laugh and share how God has blessed our lives. For now, Dad is playing games in the floor with the boys and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is on in the background. Later, when our guests are gone, we will have gingersnaps and pumpkin dip while we make our annual Texas Crunch (chex mix to you northerners), and I will start putting up a few of our Christmas decorations. We will end the day watching It's a Wonderful Life. It's going to be a great day!

Thanksgiving morning at our house (for real):
Everybody slept in this morning. I was out late with friends celebrating my birthday and Ken had three extra boys over last night, so the kids were up late and the house was chaos. (He did actually pick up the house so that it looked neat when I got home. Thank you honey!) We rolled out of bed just in time for Ken and Siah to get ready to go to the annual Turkey Bowl (football game) at church. As we waved goodbye, I put packaged muffins in the oven for the twins (They prefer that to pumpkin pancakes anyday.), and we all had some corn pops just to tide them over 'til the muffins were ready. (Ellis wakes up absolutely starving every morning. Tapeworm?) We are heading to some friends' house this afternoon, and they asked us to bring the turkey. The turkey is not in the oven yet. (I still need to go online and find out how long to cook it. ) I'm afraid to light a fire in the fireplace until we get it cleaned. I tried to share a moment watching the parade with the boys. They prefer Tom and Jerry. As for the Gingersnaps and Texas Crunch, I forgot to buy the butterscotch pudding for the dip and the nuts for the chex mix. And as far as decorating for Christmas, I'm just not there yet! Ken will come home from the football game and need Ibuprofen and a nap. (He usually hurts some body part every year.) We will probably fall asleep on the couch while the kids watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. It's not the day I dream about, but it will still be a great day. And in my heart, I will think about all the ways God has blessed my life and, all day, I will be thankful.

Thank you, Lord, for my family (for Ken's selflessness and love, for Siah's passion and tender heart, for Ellis' sense of humor and loving hugs, for Aidan's thoughtfulness and hunger for You, and for Bennett's simple trust and his sweet sweet smile) for life and breath, for a warm house and plenty of food, for laughter and togetherness and mostly for Your mercy
and grace in my life.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Food, Friends, and Family Feud

Southern Living
Photo: William Dickey; Styling: Lisa Powell Bailey

Occasionally, we get together with some friends for a night of great food and fun. No kids allowed. It has been way to long since we enjoyed a night away from our boys, so last night, we left the boys with Grammy and Poppa who were here from Tennessee and headed over to our friends' house. We spent the evening talking, laughing, being silly and oohing and ahhing over every bite we ate. We caught up on what everyone has been up to and we made new inside jokes. (I'm still not sure why being a fisherman is a profession you wouldn't want if you had cold hands. That was courtesy of our friend Ron who beat his wife out for the question in a very competitive game of Family Feud. The survey did not say "Fisherman". The only thing missing was Richard Dawson kissing all the women. Did I just give away my age?)

Anywho, I planned the menu, but all I had to make was dessert. (I couldn't find fresh raspberries so I used blackberries and blackberry preserves.) Usually once we decide on a menu, we just pass the recipes around and let people choose what to make. We love trying new things. Here's what we ate (and where you can find some of the recipes).

Korean Salad

Pecan Crusted Chicken with a Maple-Dijon Sauce

Steamed Broccoli

Carrots with a Brown Sugar Glaze

Maple Cornbread with Bacon and Scallions

Raspberry Tiramisu Shots

Monday, November 16, 2009

It's Really Not All About Me

Yesterday was a great day for several reasons.

Reason #1
We had an awesome service at church. We had a guest speaker to begin our series called "iworship", and his focus was the verse from Hebrews 12 about worshipping God acceptably with reverence and awe because "our God is a consuming fire". He painted a picture for us of what a consuming fire really is. It was an amazing eye-opener for our congregation. We experienced God's presence like never before. I had the privilege of leading the worship team, and to close the service, I sang a duet with a friend of mine. We sang a song called "You Won't Relent". The words are powerful. Have a listen. (By the way, that's not me singing!) (Go to the bottom of the page and pause my player first.)



Reason #2
We had lunch with the guest speaker and his wife after church. She was very cute and at one point she said to me, "Seriously, do you read alot about parenting or how do you get your children to be this way because I really want my children to act like your boys." I was blown away. Had she just said that she thought my boys were well behaved? All I could think to say at that moment was , "I yell - a LOT!" When I recovered, I mentioned that we have always believed in first time obedience - that it's crucial that children understand that parents mean what they say and that you expect them to do what you tell them. Of course when I got home, I thought of all of these other wise words of wisdom for her. For example, children are a part of the family; they don't run the home. Too many homes are child centered, and we're seeing a world full of selfish children. (I could preach a message, but I'll spare you.)

Most of the time, I feel like I'm winging it as a parent. I guess we all do. Nobody ever told me that being a mom was the hardest thing I would ever do. And now I'm on that slippery slope of raising a pre-teen and all that comes with it like learning when to give him some freedoms and trusting his decisions about things and letting him make mistakes. It's scary, because the older he gets, the bigger and more costly the mistakes. Well, that's all another post. Let me just say I said a huge thank you to my Heavenly Father for filling in all the gaps where I messed up in the past. It's only by His grace and mercy that my children have survived my parenting. To have someone acknowledge and affirm the boys' behavior was very encouraging and humbling. They are very good boys!

Reason #3
When I got home from church, there was a beautiful box on my counter. My friend, Nichole, had stopped by and put it there. (I'm horrified that she saw the state of my house on a Sunday morning.) It had a note that simply said, "It was a pleasure to experience worship with you this morning." In the box were 300 (yes 300) sheets of beautiful scrapbooking paper. She knows I love pretty paper. (She also brought dinner over one night while Ken was in Indonesia.) What a gift her friendship is to me, and it's only just begun. I look forward to next Sunday, because her team is leading.

When your family is in full-time ministry, sometimes Sunday is not the best day. I mean you spend all morning readying the family without the help of dad who had to be at church two hours earlier. You spend all morning at church (and I mean "all" morning) chasing the baby and looking over your shoulder making sure the kids are behaving by yourself because dad is in the middle of his 15th conversation (with adults not children) and the baby falls asleep on the way home only to wake up totally rested (at least he thinks so) after the 10 minute car ride and refuses to take a nap. Some weeks you do lunch by yourself with the kids because dad has a meeting, or you grab a quick family lunch only to have dad go back to the office for some reason. I'm not complaining. It's just a fact of life. It's not always the best day in my week.

But yesterday was a good day! I worshipped. I was challenged. I had lunch with my husband. I made new friends. The kids behaved. My parenting was affirmed. I used my gift. My leadership was affirmed. Let me say after all those I's and My's, I know worship is not about me or what I need. And while Ken and I do not see Sunday as our Sabbath day (we protect Saturdays for that), God refreshed my soul yesterday in ways that I did not even know I needed. He's amazing that way!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

A Glimpse at Penny Tree Designs

It's been 2 weeks since I've had a free moment to write. (I haven't even had time to share Halloween photos or talk about Indonesia, etc...) I spent most of the time just trying to survive while Ken was away and enjoying 10 awesome days with my sister. We never get to be together for that amount of time, so I was grateful. When I wasn't totally exhausted, I spent the remainder of my time preparing for a small show yesterday to show some of my stuff. (I haven't even written about my new little business idea. I call it Penny Tree Designs. More on that later.) Thanks to my sister's help, I had quite a bit of stuff to sell and they sold well. Here is a taste of what I sold and how I displayed my things just to give you an idea. Enjoy!

Come Celebrate the Season Collection

Life in Black and White Collection

A few of my other collections...

It's Your Day Collection

Expect Big Things Collection

Give Thanks Collection

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

It's a Small World After All

The world seems like such a huge place
(especially when your husband is in a different country)

Last Thursday:
Ken left for 12 days. His trip took approximately 30 hours.

Last Friday:
Aidan: Who will read the Bible tonight if Daddy isn't here?

E-mail from Indonesia yesterday
"At all of the hotels and skyscrapers, there are bomb sniffing dogs and police with mirrors to look under cars. They inspect all the trunks and have scanning devices for people as they walk into the buildings. It is a very standardized way of life here now I guess."

5:30 p.m. last night (dinner table)
Ellis: Dear Jesus, please keep daddy safe in Arizona....in Jesus name, Amen.
Aidan: It's not Arizona silly. It's Indonesia!
Everyone: Giggle, snicker, giggle

6:30 p.m. last night
Ken called. We had a 45 minute conversation.
We got to talk to him and see him and he could see us!
And it was free!

Suddenly the world doesn't seem so huge!

Thank you Lord for technology!