Easter blessings

About a year ago, we took in a cute little puppy. See....

He is now 100 pounds.... what were we thinking?!?

Jake is wonderful at sharing his special things with us. 

Yep, that's a gopher

Now, around here we all know what Easter is really about.  Jesus!  And to prove that, Jake found the Easter Bunny and showed him who's boss.  Yesterday, he walked around for 3 hours with half a rabbit sticking out of his mouth.  At first I was grossed out, and sad to see this bunny's hopping days come to an end.  But then I remembered, "Peter Rabbit"  and the garden I was planting.  That dog saved my future bounty!  So carry the cotton tail around all you want.  Then I got sad again because the dog put the bunny somewhere special before I got a picture of it.  Now I have no visual image to share with you all.  Bet you are relieved.

Happy Easter all!  Enjoy Jesus' blessings!



sportin' the sports

Now I get it!

Growing up I played a variety of sports.  My parents used to tell me, 'Great job Amy!  We are proud of you."  As a child, that was fortunately just normal vocabulary to me.  (I blame my adult confidence on them)  Then as a teenager, I outwardly brushed those comments off.  And inwardly relished them. 

The background info is that I knew I wasn't the star of the team.  I think I made exactly zero baskets while playing basketball, screamed when that pitcher threw the ball for me to hit (as if) and track... well, I hid behind the bleachers when the all-county meet came.  I am the first to sign up for an event, the skill part just lags behind my confidence.  And for those of you who feel sorry for my lack of athletic prowlness, don't worry, I eventually found some of it. 

Now I have a 4 1/2 and 7 year old playing stuff.  And I get it!  I am the one yelling "Great job!"  And it hardly matters if it was a great job or not.  Thankfully, the girls got my willingness to join teams, and my hubby's skill at them. 

Claire started her first softball team a few months ago.  Her first game, she jumped in as catcher- never having put the gear on made for a very funny walk.  But that didn't matter, I still took 6,583 pictures.

Hey batter, batter....

O-U-T!

Who's competitive here????

Clarie is all about the gear.  Which is exactly why my husband started playing catcher.   

Can we take a moment and notice the size difference? 

Hi Mom.

Now this is what I remember about softball- dancing!

 And now because I will feel bad if I don't at least mention the second athlete:  Ella is taking a social break from sports this spring... but here's a tribute to her fall soccer days:|

"I will stand right here until I have all of your attention"

Hottest day ever!  EVER!

While it is ubber-important for me to cheer my kids on when I see them out on the field.  I have to reflect on the act of encouraging others off the field. 
Don't you just LOVE how smart God is!  He loves me so much that he allows US to encourage others.  I know 100% some of God's work for me is to build others up.  Some games I am totally in and I am cheering others as I am created to do.  And there are other "games" where I blow it.  I forget who's team I am rooting for.  But thankfully, there's always a game going on where I can get back in it.  And thankfully I have many who cheer me on ... daily sometimes! 

So whether you had this or not in your life, I just want to say, "Great job you!  You are awesome!"

unexpected

The 4 year old is sick today.  Which means I have a day at home that was unplanned.  6 hours!  What do I do!  I put this pressure on myself to do really great things when times like this happen.  I feel like I should paint the entire house or write a letter to everyone I know.  Extra things.

I decided that I would create a visual “to do” list.  Taking pictures of the things I hoped to accomplish would be way more fun than actually doing them.  And maybe inspire me to do them. Pictures of the plants I hoped to get into the garden, grout to be cleaned, the one window ledge to be painted, sports equipment to be organized…. Complete with “after” pictures of course. 

Made my mental list.  Got out the camera.  Ready. Dead battery.  Hmmph. 

While the battery charged, I decided to go to the “normal” chores.  I washed dishes, vacuumed AND moped the house, did 3 loads of laundry, stripped and made all the beds, sorted mail, cleaned the bathroom WITH bleach (nothing like watching your child throw up on the floor to break out the good cleaning stuff), put clothes away, and toys (who will invent a toy that will put itself away?)

Proof:  Can you see the floor shine?

I guess it’s better that the camera didn’t want to work.  My list-making personality is happy because I have a really clean house and it's only 9 am!  So now onto the extra chores, or is it sun basking time?

Happy Spring cleaning!