Phoebe Joy!!

I hope Stephanie and Greg don't mind that I am taking the liberty of posting this pic, I am just so excited for everyone to see this beautiful addition to all of our lives! I will trust that you will visit and ooh and aah and let Steph and Greg tell you the great story of her birth amidst this wild December we had. Until you get to cuddle her in person here is Jarv enjoying a few moments with her preciousness!

Scroll down for photos!

I added my photos before my text and couldn't figure out how to go back and add text to my photos! Anyway, if you are not from the Pacific Northwest and you are reading this (Hey Sher!) we got a little snow this week. More than a foot in our yard although the news will try to tell you it was only 9 inches. We missed the entire week of school last week, which was fun but totally robbed me of the Christmas Break Anticipation that I love so much. Friday night didn't have that same relief and giddiness that usually marks the beginning of two weeks of sleeping in. The snow has been so fun though and we did not take it for granted. There was much oohing and aahing and playing until the fingers froze. Having the truck has meant we aren't quite so homebound which has been nice. So overall a good experience. Until this morning. Yesterday Jarv and I commented to each other that we should probably knock some of the snow off of our backyard canopy. Being laden down with hot chocolate and Christmas goodies however, we did not make it outside to perform this action and now we are paying for it. We woke up and our little canopy couldn't stand up against the quarter inch of ice that built up on it last night. Our glass patio table was spared luckily! We almost made it out unaffected, but it was not to be. Now we are hoping for warmer weather for our little bit of holiday traveling and for Jarv's drive to work in the morning. Hope this finds you all cozy and warm!

The down side

All that glitters

My son Kaden has a sixth sense. It is the one that senses glitter glue. I was cleaning out my craft (or crap depending on your point of view) closet today to make some room for Christmas gift storage. I had bought some glitter glue about a month ago for a class project and had hidden it on a high shelf, not in the kids craft basket where we keep the supplies that they can use whenever the mood strikes them. Thinking that it had been long enough since the project and that the kids had forgotten the glue, and liking everything to have a place, I put the glitter glue in the kids basket. Kaden was in his room while all this was occurring. He did not see me in the closet. We had not discussed crafts, he had no reason to go to the closet except for his sixth sense. Literally three minutes after the glue became accessible he walks into the kitchen with it, asking if he can "do this". Now, the part of me that loves glitter (the teacher part) overtook the part of me that cleans the house. Plus, a few months ago at Mom's group we made great wall hangings to hold kids art and ours has become the place for seasonal art. So out comes the shiny red paper and the contstruction paper tree to be trimmed with glitter glue and placed proudly on display. Since he is 5 and his attention span is short it has taken me longer to tell you this story than it did for hime to "do" the glitter glue. The tree is a work of art and his sister will be thrilled that she too gets to indulge in glitter glue when she gets home from school.

Taking a Moment

O.k so I thought that I would be this mighty blogger. I love reading other people's and dislike having to wait for new posts so of course I would never let a month go by without updating my blog! Well, reality sets in and I realize that a strange paradox has occurred. At the time when I have the most to blog about ( kids birthdays, baby showers, Thanksgiving, black Friday shopping) I have no time to blog! As my dear friend Mike says I am "living the dream" right now. So, I wanted to let you know that I am still here, still longing to share many things with you, still adding "BLOG" to my daily to do list. But life has gloriously taken over and I am living it to the fullest doing things I love like baking and having coffee with friends and making endless lists of Christmas related tasks. If you know me at all you know the list making ranks right up there with my very favorite things in the world. Plus, my computer is possibly on its last legs of usefulness. Pictures take forever so for awhile it's just going to be me and my words, no images until I can get a new computer sometime after the first of the year.
I hope that you are living the dream as well. Maybe even too caught up with the joy and fun of this time of year to even read this post. Maybe it is January when you are reading this and you can sigh with contentment as you look at all the things that kept you from sitting down at your computer. If you are like me though, reading other people's postings are a part of my greatest joy so I never let too much time pass between checking in with my favorites!
I'm not sure when I will be back next, but it will probably be a bit longer than I expect, it always is. Don't give up on me though! Just know that life is good right now and I can't wait until I can sit down and tell you all about it, for now I'm just going to live it!

Sisterly Pride

On Friday I took my kids out of school, packed their backpacks with treats and activities, gathered movies for the drive and Tom, the kids and I all headed to Tacoma to watch my brother Spencer play in his last soccer game as a Wildcat.
Spencer is my little brother, although only in age, not in height as you can see. I was 12 1/2 when Spence was born. All our lives I have walked that line between big sis and little Mom. But in both of those roles I have experienced such pride in him.
In all honesty, although I never tell him this, he is my hero. He is a gifted athlete who has always been exciting to watch on the field. More important than that however, is that he is an incredible person. He is a loyal and devoted friend. He really wants the best for those around him. He has no ego that gets in the way of thinking of others above himself. Both our parents and myself honestly sit around when he isn't there and wonder how we got so lucky. He is a rock star to my kids. He babysits for free. I could go on and on!
So, I watched him play his last game, and I have to admit that I was glad I had my sunglasses to hide my tears as the game came to a close. Not because I won't see him play again because soccer will always be a part of him and he will find a way to play, but because I am so proud of what he does and who he is.
We are a fairly emotional family. Or maybe it's just me and Mom that are emotional so it seems that way. Regardless, my pride in him probably doesn't come as a surprise to Spence, I hope he has know all along how I brag about him every chance I get. But I feel the need to tell him again as this chapter in his life closes. I am so excited to see what part soccer will play in his life next, there is no question it will always be there in one form or another.
But Spence, just in case there is a moment (no matter how small) of identity crisis for you as you move on from here I want you to remember that you are and always will be my little brother and my biggest hero! I love you bud!

Tag, I'm it!

My friend Sherry tagged me, then after having to e-mail her to find out what that meant I had to come up with 6 interesting things about myself, or 6 of my favorite things, etc. Here are a little bit of both:
1. I love mystery books. Think Nancy Drew rather than Stephen King. Agatha Christie is brilliant and I am working my way through her books in between several other series I am reading. All of them have female amateur detectives that have a regular day job. Some of them are set in coffee houses, bookstores and cookie shops. All of them help my brain escape and relax. They certainly don't make me smarter the way reading is probably suppose to but I love them all the more for that!
2. God has blessed my life with the most amazing women. Sherry said something similar and I have to echo her sentiments. I have a wonderful array of close, closer and closest relationships with some outstanding ladies. At one time I prayed for female friends and let me tell you that God answered! So give it a try if your circle lacks estrogen and God will surely provide!
3. I have two very unique and precious children. Already at almost eight years old my daughter is mature beyond her years. I am going to learn a lot from her. If she reads this one day let me just say that she is more patient with me than I deserve. She is comfortable enough with herself and I to call me out when I am crabby for no good reason and she is the first to praise me when I am doing something that impresses her. She will make a marvelous Mom one day. My son will always turn my heart to mush with his long eyelashes which I know God gave him on purpose to counteract his mischievous nature! He makes me laugh often as he invites me to see the world his way (where sharing is not always the best way to go and every meal should be made primarily of sugar). What a gift they are!
4. I am married to a man that is the perfect balance of quiet strength and outgoing leadership. He makes people feel important, including me, always honoring them for who they are. He is a great Daddy and boss (which are the same thing sometimes). He is the kind of guy that gets a birthday card from a secretary of a high school that he was employed at six years ago. What a might good man!
5. I love iced mochas and although I won't use the word "addiction" I will say that I have tried to go a few days without one and those weren't the best days ever.
6. I love "The Joy of Painting" with Bob Ross. You know, the PBS show with the guy with big hair? His voice is mesmorizing to me. He is on at noon around here and I have been known to steal a little time with his show and doze a little. . . . mmm.

So now, I get to tag Amy W. and Leslie!

All Right Here

Sara Groves is my favorite singer/songwriter of all time. Her lyrics always go right to my soul. When I started my blog the other night the first name that I tried was "All Right Here", which is the name of a favorite song of mine. Alas the name was already taken. But the song itself still represents my blogging philosophy and so I wanted to share the lyrics.

It's every loss and every love
It's every blessing from above
Here I am all added up
It's all right here
It's what I know and what I'm guessing
It's half truths and full confessions
It's why I choose to learn my lessons
It's all right here
It's caution and curiosity
It's all the things I never see
Welling up inside of me
It's all right here
It's what is best and what is worst
It's how I see the universe
It's in every line and every verse
It's all right here.
Every heart has so much history, it's my favorite place to start
Sit down awhile and share your narrative with me
I'm not afraid of who you are.
I'm all here and you're all there, some of it is unique and some of it we share
Let's add it up and start from there
It's all right here.

So, hopefully this blog will represent my narrative that I can keep a record of and somewhere along the line you will share your narrative with me. Either through comments or by starting a blog of your own that I can read!

Finally . . .

The day has finally come! Judging by how many names I had to go through before I found one that wasn't taken I know I am probably the second to last person to set up shop in my little piece of cyberspace. But thanks to Stefanie Riddle, who made a house call a few nights ago to help me set up, I am finally up and running!