negotiating . . .

Me: Luke, you need to help Rowan clean up the playroom. If you do, you'll get two dollars for the day!

Luke: Mommy, how 'bout this? I give YOU five dollars and you never mention cleaning to me again.

The Colors of our Family . . .

I'm so in love with my son. I love how he's growing up. He asks the best questions. He's so inquisitive and so stinking funny.

We had this conversation a few days ago:

Luke: Mommy, what do yellow and blue make?
ME: (So relieved that I know the answer, LOL) GREEN.

Luke: What do red and orange make?
ME: (thinking. . . thinking . . . thinking . . .) Uh . . dark orange?

Luke: What do brown and white make?
ME: Light brown?

Luke: How about orange and green?
ME: Uh, probably a very ugly brown.

Then, I turn the tables on him, thinking I can stump him.

ME: What do Mommy and Lukey make?
Luke: Family. (which he pronounces Fam-buh-wee.)

Good Answer, Lukey. :)

I LOVE this kid.

He's got the whole world . . .

. . . in his hands. And us, too, of course.

Luke and I had this discussion yesterday. He was fascinated when I told him that God is holding us in his hands ALL THE TIME.

Later that day, I hear this conversation in the backseat:

Luke: Hey Rowan! Did you know that God is holding us ALL the time? All of us. Even Daddy.

Rowan: Yeah, I know that. He's holding us right now. (spoken with the absolute certainty of her 5-year-old wisdom)

Luke: Is he holding our car?

Rowan: Yep, he's holding ALL the cars. (again, such certainty :) )

Luke: OH. MY. GOSH!! All these cars are like God's toys!

I love you really really LOUD.

A couple weeks ago, my son Luke said this to me.

Luke: Mommy, I love you.

Me: Really? How much?

Luke: I love you really really LOUD.

It was really cute. I think, in his sweet 3-year-old heart, he was trying to say that he loves me sooo much - and he couldn't think of a bigger word that LOUD. I thought his description was so fabulous. And so fitting - considering the child it came from. :)

And the more I think about it, the more I love it.

Think about how Jesus loved us. He loved us so "loud" that he died for us. He was not ashamed of us. He proclaimed his love on the cross, for all to see. His love was not quiet. It was LOUD.

And so I resolve to love Him - and everyone else in my life - a lot more LOUD from now on.

Thank you, Luke, for sharing your wisdom with me.

The presents of God.

Sunday, our pastor spoke about family. And what family means during Christmas.
He spoke of how psychologists say that the single most important thing that family gives us is a sense of belonging. And how that seemingly simple emotion is so important to us as human beings, that children who don't feel a sense of belonging at a very early age, may never develop a healthy self-esteem or emotional well-being.
And he shared with us something that he told his children when they were growing up. And I loved the message of it so much, that I wanted to share it with you:

I do not love you because you are smart. Though, you are very smart.
I do not love you because you are beautiful. Though, to me, you are very beautiful.
I do not love you because you are good. Though, you are very good.

I love you because you are mine.
And because you will always be mine.

Can't you hear God saying that to all of us?

And if you, like me, you were not lucky enough to have that sense of belonging here with your earthly family, you can rejoice and rest assured that there is always someone to whom you do belong and you always will.

Dilettante . . .

Dilettante.

Yep.

I am.

I'm a writer. Well, that was a long time ago. Not so much anymore.

I scrapbook. Sometimes. Digital and paper. But not much. Not for a long time now.

I knit. Well, I know how to knit. Crochet, too. I haven't actually made anytime in years and I never made much to begin with.

I create graphic art. Templates and logos and stuff. But only when I feel like it, which isn't very often anymore.

I'm a semi-retired part-time seamstress/designer. I like to sew. Sometimes. But not right now. Just not feeling it.

I'm an amateur photographer. Sometimes. But only when it suits my mood to be one.

All of these things are things that so many people are so passionate about. I want to be passionate about something. I just can't decide what. I keep hoping it will pick me.

Until then, I create whatever, whenever the mood strikes me, and go where the wind blows . . .

TOTAL dilettante.

We're going to Disney World!

Okay, well, actually we've already been to Disney World. But I'm a little behind here. :)

We all enjoyed our first trip to Disney World back in September. We were able to be there for Rowan's 5th birthday. It was an amazing vacation. We all had such a great time.

We rode rides:

This is the kids and me on Dumbo.

We also loved Peter Pan's Flight, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Goofy's Barnstormer and the Pirates of the Carribean ride.

And, of course, to my great embarrassment, both of my kids started yelling when they saw the Johnny Depp animatronic character in the Pirate's ride: "Mommy, look! It's your boyfriend!" Thank goodness it's dark in there!

But, just in case you wanted to see too, here's my boyfriend:

We also got to met lots of "real" characters, too!

With Mickey at his house in Toon Town:

With Minnie in her Safari Gear at Animal Kingdom:

Meeting Buzz Lightyear at MGM:

The Power Rangers at MGM:

With Jessie the Cowgirl at MGM:

And, of course, we met the princesses!

On Rowan's birthday, we had lunch with Cinderella at her castle! Rowan was in awe the entire time. It was such a special treat for her!

The kids got their faces painted at the African Village in Disney's Animal Kingdom. Don't they look awesome!

Some of my favorites parts of the entire trip were the parades! The parades at Disney are AMAZING! I took these photos of some characters during the afternoon "Stars and Cars" parade at MGM!

My favorite - Luke's father:

The rides, the parades, the shows, everything was just so awesome and so amazingly done! I can't wait to go back!