Caroline: Seven

Happy birthday, sweetest Caroline! Seven years ago, you were born and we became parents. We had no idea what we were doing. I remember the first moment the nurses left and we were alone with you. I looked at your Daddy and said, "What are we supposed to do now?" And, honestly, some days we still look at each other and ask the exact same question.

Luckily, you are easy. You always have been. You are kind and obedient and sweet and generous. You strive to honor us as your parents.

You have my personality (we butt heads a lot), but you are a daddy's girl. I love that about you. Your daddy is amazing and I pray you find someone just like him when you are grown. He is showing you daily what a good husband and father is.

You love Helen and Peter. You take pride in being their big sister. Even though I have to sometimes remind you that you do not have to parent them, I am so grateful for your helpful spirit. You are dependable and responsible. I can always count on you to be an extra set of hands.

You are good at school. I never have to worry about your homework - you do it happily and immediately and expertly. I'm glad because soon your homework will be hard and you will be so much smarter than I am!

You love, love, love to read. I can relate. If you are quiet for a while, I know what you are doing. I am really enjoying reading aloud to you. It is so fun to read some of my favorite childhood novels together.

You are my introvert. I can also relate to that. You need quiet and personal space. It's okay. Embrace those feelings and needs. I know many awesome introverts.

You are talented. I'm not really sure what your "thing" is yet because you want to try everything and you love everything. You like soccer, swimming, choir, piano, musical theater, ballet, tap, jazz dance, art... Whew! I definitely see tendencies toward more artistic pursuits instead of athletic ones. Your enthusiasm and joy for your activities is inspiring.

Darling, beautiful, special girl, I look at you and am humbled by God's goodness in my life. He has entrusted your father and me to be your parents. We thank him for you every day. He is molding you into the most amazing young lady. We love you. To the moon and back.

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing. -Zephaniah 3:17

Merry Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas.

Santa came!

Peter is ready for duck hunting with Daddy!

American Girl dolls were at the top of the girls' lists. Caroline got the newest historical girl "Caroline" and Helen got a Bitty Baby, which she named "Helen".

Santa remembered to leave a treat for Tigger.

This was one of the only things Helen asked for - a "blow flute" just like her music teacher's at school.

Peter got lots of wheeled things. And balls. Hooray for boy things!

Princess karaoke

Our gift to each other was a new piece of artwork for our family room.

It was unintentionally a merry "Grizz-mas", due to all the gifted Grizzlies items. It just kind of happened. Peter got a mini Grizz from his sisters. Helen wanted to get Daddy a flag (no idea where that came from), so I ran with it and got him a flag pole set up and the official NBA Grizzlies flag. Not pictured is Kevin's new Grizzlies polo shirt Caroline picked out for him. Helen's favorite player is Mike Conley. Kevin found this jersey on sale several weeks before Christmas. She is really proud of it and has hopes of meeting Mike to show it to him. And I love scarves, so of course I love my Grizzlies arena scarf! I'd say we're all fixed up for game days!

Evidence of Christmas good times

It was just the 5 of us here at our house for Christmas eve and Christmas day. Kevin worked through Christmas day, so we celebrated with our families both before and after the actual holiday. Honestly, I kind of like stretching the holiday out for as long as possible. I think the kids do, too. Who doesn't love 4 different celebrations with loved ones?

~~~~~

As for all of the musical happenings, they all went well. I closed out Christmas Eve services with a midnight postlude that, although quiet, was so fitting. This tune appeared again and again in my musical involvements throughout the month. I took that as God giving me a not-so-subtle reminder. I don't know that I did the best job, but I tried throughout the month to reflect on the words of this hymn and remember that my ultimate goal here on earth not only at Christmas but every day is to rejoice in Him!

In dulci jubilo:

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice;
Give ye heed to what we say:
Jesus Christ is born today!
Earth and heaven before him bow
And he is in the manger now.
Christ is born today! Christ is born today!

And because I'm a good music nerd, I looked up the English translation of the original Latin. I love the line about our hearts' joy lying in the manger.

In sweet rejoicing,
now sing and be glad!
Our hearts' joy
lies in the manger;
And it shines like the sun
in the mother's lap.
You are the alpha and omega!

May He be our hearts' joy not just at Christmastime, but every day! (And I'm counting that as my happy 2013 to all of you!)

Concerts #2, #3, and #4

Concert number 2 was our church's adult choir Lessons and Carols program. If I had to pick a favorite night of the year, this would be it. Every year this program becomes more and more meaningful and emotional to me. I pray the music was just as illuminating to listen to as it was to sing.

I wish I could highlight every piece we sang. I've been doing much thinking about these lyrics the past couple of weeks:

As the dark awaits the dawn, so we await Your light.
O Star of promise, scatter night, loving bright, loving bright, 
Till shades of fear are gone.

As the blue expectant hour before the silv'ring skies,
We long to see Your day arise, whole and wise, whole and wise,
O lucent Morning Star.


As the moon reflects the sun until the night's decrease, 
May we Your healing light release, living peace, living peace, 
Unto Your holy dawn.

Shine Your future on this place, enlighten ev'ry guest,
That through us stream Your holiness, bright and blest, bright and blest;
Come dawn, O Sun of grace.
We await Your light.

So beautiful. It expresses perfectly this "now, but not yet" time of waiting. Someday...

Concert #3 was Caroline's choir program at church. The first grade choir sang 2 pieces and did a fantastic job. I accompany this choir. They are such a good, sweet, big group! I can't wait for the spring concert! I have to say that the most fun part of helping out with children's choir is getting to work with my own and my friends' children!

She looks so grown up! Can she really be old enough for a choir robe?

Concert #4 was a program at Caroline's school. The girls have been studying Mexican Christmas traditions and made a special Las Posadas procession at chapel. They made "lanterns" and got to dress up as a nativity character of their choice. I think out of 60 girls, 50 were angels. Here's ours:

Wings and halo look familiar?

Caroline's first grade class - the Ladybugs

(I'm going to sum up a few concerts/performances. They include gigs as a handbell ringer, accompanist to a high school choir, pianist for a nursing home program, and organist. 'Tis the season to make LOTS of music!)

Helen: 3 years

 

Helen,

Here it is: your THIRD birthday! You are so excited to be three! Honestly, you are excited about almost anything. It's our favorite thing about you.

 

You are my most social child. You make friends easily. You start conversations with everyone you encounter. You always want to go somewhere, do something, see someone.

 

Life is brighter and more fun and more spontaneous with you in it. It's just plain fun with you around.

 

A verse for you popped in to my head last night as I was thinking about your sweet life.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. -Matthew 5:16

Your father and I give thanks for your light-filled spirit. We pray that the light shining in you will continue to spill out onto those surrounding you, showing them that Jesus lives in your heart. We are prayerful that you will strive to give glory to God in all you do.

 

We love you, merry sunshine! Happy third bithday!

(Incredible photos taken by EBW Photography)

Caroline: 6 years

Sweet Caroline,

You are SIX! These years have gone by so quickly. They've been the best years of our lives. I could go on and on about how beautiful, talented, intelligent, graceful, wonderful you are. You are more than we ever imagined you would be! We are blessed.

Your daddy and I pray for you - prayers of thanksgiving and praise, prayers for the Holy Spirit to work in your life, prayers that Jesus will always be your redeemer and savior. We pray you remember the most important thing ever: that God loves you always and forever, deeply and intimately.

This was my "verse of the day" the day before your birthday. I thought it was so appropriate for you. I even put it on a note in your lunch box.

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. -Luke 12:6-7

You are valued. Not only by those who love you here on earth. But by your eternal Father. Never forget that.

Happy sixth birthday, dear daughter!

(Incredible photos taken by EBW Photography)

Yellow flowers

"Helen, look out the window! What do you see?"

"Beautiful yellow flowers! Mommy, God made them for us!"

Thank you, Lord, for your beautiful, incredible creation. The whole earth gives you glory! Thank you for children who are learning to glorify you and see you in everything.

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For each perfect gift of Thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,

This our hymn of grateful praise. 

For the Beauty of the Earth, words by Folliot S. Pierpoint

Baptism

We celebrated Peter's baptism this past weekend. I've been thinking about almost nothing else since. (Yes, even my sewing thoughts have been pushed aside a bit!)

We look great, don't we?

But the fact is that we're sinners - every single one of us. Even sweet Peter is a sinner. Every single one of us needs a Savior and renewing grace. Kevin and I claim Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and our children's Savior until the day comes when they can claim Him themselves. We made that commitment at each of our children's baptisms.

These men standing beside and behind us and the entire congregation promised to assist us in responsibly raising our children. I was texting a friend later that evening and I thanked her for consenting to help us raise these kids. "No problem," she answered. "We've got you covered." We are covered indeed. Not only by the prayers and support of our church and family, but also by God's blessings and righteousness and most of all His grace. Completely humbling.

It is a frightening thing to unreservedly dedicate my children to God. My sinful heart has lots of reservations and wants total control over everything - especially my children and their lives! What if they grow up and don't profess Jesus as their Lord? What if I don't teach them correctly? What if one of them dies? What if, what if, what if?

Yes, it's frightening. But there's a freedom in knowing that God is sovereign over all of my "what ifs". His wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth are infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. And everything has been foreordained by Him. That's comforting.

So I do the only thing I can do. I pray. I pray that our teachings will accomplish their purpose, that everything we do and say would point to God, that the days of our children's lives would be many, that each of them would grow to know Jesus as their savior, and that we would praise Him and glorify Him in all things.

Just a little off the top

One of Caroline's favorite activities is cutting shapes out of paper.  She's really good at it.  And she's very safe with scissors, so I don't hover over her.

(Anyone see where this is going yet?)

Last Friday, I was walking through the dining room and picked up a lock of hair on the floor.  I thought it was strange, but didn't worry too much about it because we had just been to get Caroline's hair trimmed that morning.  I figured some hair had gotten stuck to the bottom of her shoe.  It was a good two inches long and Caroline had maybe an inch trimmed off.

Later that afternoon we were playing on the floor.  I looked up at Caroline and saw some hair around her face that was quite a bit shorter than the rest of her hair.  I immediately started giggling because I had solved the mystery.

Me:  Caroline, did you cut your hair?
Caroline: No.
Me: Caroline, I'm not mad at you and you are not in trouble.  Did you cut your hair?
Caroline: No.
Me: Caroline, I'm not mad at you and you are not in trouble.  Did you cut your hair?
Caroline: No.
Me: Caroline, I'm not mad at you and you are not in trouble.  Did you cut your hair?
Caroline: No.
Me: Caroline, I'm not mad at you and you are not in trouble.  Did you cut your hair?
Caroline: No.
Me: Caroline, I'm not mad at you and you are not in trouble.  Did you cut your hair?
Caroline: No.

I must have asked her 50 times.  She finally told me "it was an accident."  Sure.  
An "accident."

I found the whole situation (except for the lying part) really funny.  I giggle every time I think about her sitting in her chair, wondering what it would be like to cut some hair, and then doing it.  For such a straight-laced, obedient little girl, this was a real act of rebellion!  It could have been much worse.  She didn't go crazy with her scissors (thank God).  I always fix her hair so you can't tell.  You can hardly even see it if it's not fixed either.

Is it too much to hope for that all her rebellions will be this minor and easily handled?

(We dealt with the lying thing by taking the Proverbs 12:22 and then Colossians 1:14 stance. It was a good reminder for me, too.)

The Day of Resurrection

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Get your own

We've been preparing for Easter all week long. We hunted Easter eggs. We dyed eggs. We made special treats like marshmallow sheep and bunny rolls. And most of all, we are so grateful to celebrate by serving a risen Lord! We hope your Easter celebrations were as special and blessed as ours were!

The day of resurrection! Earth, tell it out abroad;
The Passover of gladness, the Passover of God.
From death to life eternal, from earth unto the sky,
Our Christ hath brought us over, with hymns of victory.

Our hearts be pure from evil, that we may see aright
The Lord in rays eternal of resurrection light;
And listening to His accents, may hear, so calm and plain,
His own “All hail!” and, hearing, may raise the victor strain.

Now let the heavens be joyful! Let earth the song begin!
Let the round world keep triumph, and all that is therein!
Let all things seen and unseen their notes in gladness blend,
For Christ the Lord hath risen, our joy that hath no end.

Two talented little girls

I caught Helen doing two of her latest tricks today on video. She spots the dog and does the baby sign. Then I convince her to wave at Tigger. Her wave makes me laugh every time: she uses her wrist and rotates her whole hand. Adorable.



And now for our sweet Caroline. I've always heard that children's minds are like sponges. Now I know it's true. We started having her repeat small phrases of the Lord's Prayer about a month ago. Within a couple of weeks, she was saying it all by herself! She amazes me. Kevin and I get so cracked up at her inflection and tone. 4-H speech competition winner perhaps?

10 months

I held a 1-week-old baby last week who is one pound heavier than you were at her age. I don't remember you being that small (smaller, actually) 10 months ago. You've grown so quickly. How have 10 months passed so easily?

You are lovely, bright, spirited, and just all over cute.


You are noisy now - making all kinds of sounds. You even mimic us sometimes. You say "mama" and we are sure you use it correctly. I'm really quite pleased "mama" is your first word. We've also been doing some baby signs. Caroline really gets into that part of your education. We are pretty sure you do "dog" (sticking out tongue and panting). Regardless, you know and love your dog and get so excited when he is patient enough to let you pat his back and tug his ears. It's just a matter of time before all these silly sounds and motions we make start to click in your amazing little brain.

You eat almost everything we eat. You love feeding yourself and get frustrated if I offer you too much from a spoon. Your very favorites are sweet potatoes, saltine crackers, toast, and pineapple.

Playtime is so much fun these days. You love playing hide-and-seek and "boo". You have discovered that splashing in Tigger's water bowl is very exciting. When the refrigerator door opens, you crawl as fast as you can to see what treasures you can grab from the bottom door shelf. Your favorite toy is whatever Caroline is playing with at the moment.

I have a hard time keeping up with you. I've caught you trying to climb onto Caroline's step stool. You love opening drawers and cabinets. You are bold and curious and adventurous.

I've said it one thousand times, but you adore Caroline. You search for her every morning and after every nap. You get so excited when we find her - bouncing in my arms, smiling, reaching out for her. You're very lucky to have such an awesome big sister.


(Winter dresses I made - blue corduroy jumpers with hand-embroidered snowflakes)

You have a shy side. If we are around someone new, you tuck your head into my shoulder and peek out at them. It's very flirty and endearing.

You aren't much of a snuggler. You almost always put yourself to sleep. I lay you down and you grab your lovey and fall asleep with very little fussing. I occasionally get to rock you to sleep at night after your last meal of the day. Rocking you (and your big sister when she was little) is a huge privilege to me. I love coming to get you out of your crib after your naps. You are HAPPY!



I have a hard time finding the right words to praise and thank God for the precious gifts He has given me in you and your sister. I find myself praying, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." It feels like such an inadequate way to describe how immensely grateful and joyful we are for you both.

The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song.
-Psalm 28:7

Happy New Year!

From January 2010

We had a very quiet celebration at home and got two of our New Year's Eve kisses a little bit before midnight. It was perfect.

Every year, Kevin and I have a champagne toast. And every year at midnight we are bewildered as to why we choose to toast each other with a beverage we just do not like. There. I publicly admit it. Next year we're toasting with Blanton's or Disaronno or even Lorina. Remind me next year.

2009 was a fantastic year for us, full of change and adventure. I wish I could eloquently write about all God did for us last year. I see His work in so many little aspects of our year together and I am incredibly awed and grateful. We are eager to see what He does for us in 2010!