Portia's haircut

Portia cut her hair a little bit ago. When I told her that we would have to cut off the rest she sobbed....literally! So I didn't pursue that further and set my mind to doing her hair so you couldn't tell. We used clips and headbands and all was well until she took them out. I figured I would just let her hair grow back in and trim the other hair so the shorter stuff could catch up.
On Thursday my niece Sam woke up and wanted her hair cut short. So Becca cut it and then sent me a picture. I showed it to Portia. She now wanted her hair cut too. She said, "I'm not concerned anymore mom. We can get my hair cut now." (There are days when she sounds 14 not 4!) So on Saturday, while we were at Shaun's side of the family Christmas Dinner Auntie Becca cut her hair.

So here is Portia before:

during the haircut:

(it was a community event)

(I think she was a bit nervous)

all that hair...gone!

and the final result...

she wanted to stand next to her "twin" Sam...

Still adorable as ever!

The next morning when I was doing her hair she commented that she wanted hair pretties so she didn't look like a boy. I think she is not quite sure about this look...but we keep reassuring her that she looks beautiful and that her hair will grow back.

Mercedes, on the other hand, is QUITE pleased about Portia's haircut because her hair is now longer than Portia's...which is a first!

2 Different Nutcracker Experiences

My Mom took Mercedes to the Nutcracker when she was 4. Mercedes loved it. It was an extravagant gift that was wonderful! Her favorite part, and the part that he found the funniest, were the mice. She thought that it was SO funny that they wore clothes. She loved the dancing. After it was over she talked about it for quite awhile. My Mom told Portia she would take her when she was 4. So this last American Thanksgiving my Mom took Portia. She even wore the same beautiful dress. They drove off to Seattle for their big date! Portia had been looking forward to this for 2 years.

It was a very different experience. I think my mom wanted to poke her eyes out by the time it was over. This is what my mom said, "The first part of the Nutcracker with Portia was great because she wanted to buy the swan at the gift shop before the ballet began. When I told her that the swan was for a different ballet, Swan Lake, she said, "Grammie, we can just call it a goose!" Duuhhh! What was I thinking?During the first half of the ballet, she whispered in my ear, "... See More Grammie, the goose-swan just laid 17 eggs!". Ten minutes later she whispered again, "Grammie, the first egg just cracked!". So I got the giggles with Mercedes at four over the mice--she couldn't stop laughing because the mice had clothes on and everyone knows that mice don't wear clothes--and I got the giggles with Portia over the goose-swan and her eggs! I am SO blessed to have such wonderful girlies!!!"

It was just too long for her. She could not sit still and she was wiggling and squiggling and had to go to the bathroom during the best part. She said to my mom "The dancing is nice but it's just too loooooooong Grammie! I want to go!". My mom had a candy cane...so she asked Portia if she wanted to stay if she had a candy cane. Ohhhh that got her attention. She ate her candy cane and watched the rest of the performance quite happily. ...because of the candy cane. When asked what her favorite part of the performance was...the candy cane! My Mom gave a child CANDY!!!! Only a Portia could get my mom to give her a candy

Too funny!

hmmmmm...nothing to say...oh wait, apparently I do!

When I started this blog I felt like I had so much to say...and I did! Lately, I have had not so much to say...not because I actually have nothing to say but because I think I get tired of writing the same story again and again. Or maybe it's because I have been learning and changing and growing and I didn't want to write anything until the process was complete so that I could see the results. Or perhaps some of it was that a few of the things I have to say are too private or don't need to be written. We have had a few losses lately and they have really hurt...but it's not something I want to talk about. It's not earth shattering or too life altering. I see others in much more pain...so sometimes it doesn't feel like I need to add my two cents of puny pain to the noise when there is deeper pain. We've also had some pretty cool things going on but more "my life is average" cool as opposed to SUPER cool...if ya know what I mean.
Really I am rambling. I felt the need to post something for no other reason than "it's been awhile".
People don't always want to hear that my marriage is great! The girls are awesome! and I love homeschooling! Which is the truth but it's really funny how people respond...they want more dirt or to see me fail at the whole homeschooling thing. Some days I find it humorous...other days...not so much. Well here's one for ya...today I wanted to shake M until her eyes crossed. I didn't of course...didn't even touch her other than to hug and kiss her. Her favorite thing to say to me for EVERY conversation for the last 2 weeks (and we have MANY conversations in a day) is "I don't want too!" or "I can't" in a really annoying winy voice. And today I was done. I told her those phrases are banished from her vocabulary and if she says them again she won't like the results. I love my girl and she is amazing. But lately I have had to pray A LOT more for wisdom when dealing with her...which I guess is not a bad thing!
Shaun was out of work for about 3 months. That was really rough. He got laid off due to the economy and so he restarted his renovation business. And if you have ever had a business you know that it takes a bit to get the wheels going before you get contracts...so we are still in that process. Shaun is working very hard and he is AMAZING at what he does.
As for me...really nothing super exciting. Homeschooling, with the exception of today, is going so well that most days I am just thrilled out of my socks. I have been slowly and fairly methodically going through the house and culling all the extra unnecessaries that make up clutter and mess. I am in the process of reading a book called "Sink Reflections" and it motivates me to keep going.
Pretty much every Monday night we have young adults (college age) over for a meal and hanging out. It's super fun and the group changes every week. We are back attending the church we were attending before we moved. It's a bit of a drive but it's worth it. I will be back on the worship team as of January after a year and a half break. I am looking forward too it.
We really are enjoying living in Fort Langley. It's such a nice small town feel in the midst of the city. I am not sure will ever want to leave.
I think that we are getting to the place in life where we would like to stay put and put down roots as well as build the business and not be detoured. I've never experienced that really so it will be a new kind of way to live. It sort of freaks me out and makes me happy all at the same time.
ok there ya go...over and out. 10-4 good buddy.

sowing

"Sow a thought and you reap an act;
sow an act and you reap a habit;
sow a habit and you reap a character;
sow a character and you reap a destiny."

He satisfies my soul

I am enjoying my days this year at a much more relaxed pace than last year. I actually have time to laugh with our children instead of watching them giggle together as I pass by. I have time to cuddle them and tickle them. I have time to sort through the mental files of my life and look at each page in that file and read it and ponder what it says. I have time to ask God to make me more like Him and actually listen when He responds with a directive of grace. I have time to notice when the house needs to be cleaned here and there and to actually do it. I have time.
I am finding, with a great amount of relief and joy, that I am thriving in this homeschooling adventure. I love organizing the lessons and getting everything prepared. I love teaching the girls things and getting through the material. I am learning many things as well. I love watching a light turn on. I love learning how to make that light turn on. I have a ways to go but I am looking forward to my own learning curve. I got to teach Mercedes what a Laconic Answer is...do you know what that is? I didn't but now I do and so does she. That makes me smile :D.
I don't dread the day because there is too much in it to accomplish this year. I look forward to the each day with energy and joy.
I am satisfied!
Psalm 103 says it all:
"Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children-
with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.
Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.
Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul."

Wife/Mother...a page from the life of Mary

You guessed it....I was listening to another Driscoll sermon :D. This one is the 3rd sermon from the Luke series. It is called "Luke: Jesus' Birth Prophesied" (www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/jesus-birth-prophesied). You might be saying...alright already with Driscoll... ok. But this one...at the end touched to the very core of me.
In this sermon he talks about Mary. There are several things he goes through. But let me be brief. Mary was a girl of between 12-16 (likely, more like 12-14) years of age. She was a peasant...illiterate. From a backwater town of between 50-200 people. So she knew everyone and everyone knew her. She was betrothed Joseph. A poor, likely, illiterate, farm boy who was probably about her age. We don't even give this age driver's licences never mind the job to raise the son of God. They had likely known each other their whole lives. She was a good girl who loved God. She had a path set out all scripted...she would be betrothed for a year, marry Joseph, then have babies and raise a family.
Gabriel the angel shows up to Mary and says, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
Mary asks how this can be since she is a virgin. The angel says, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."
and Mary says, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
She took God at His word and in that moment she was willing to give up her identity, her good name, her marriage...her script for her life.
She also chose to devote her life to being a wife and mother. In our world this is the last thing a liberated woman of the 21st century does. Do you realize that being simply a wife and a mother is looked down upon? It's not enough...it's one of the things to do but not the only thing and certainly not something that you let hold you back or down...after all the next generation is obviously not that important. Aren't you missing out on your true life's purpose? That is the thought of our day. I hear it all the time. I was not a great singer but I sung a lot and in many different places. I cannot do that now. I am a mom and a wife. My first priority is to those things. Many people ask me when I will start doing that again? And am I just wasting my education... my degree? I have wondered that as well. After all I am JUST a stay at home mom. I must be missing out on my true calling as I am watching the years stack one upon the other.
Well I think I will take a page from Mary's life. One of her son's was the Saviour of the world, another one (James) lead the first church in Jerusalem that had the biggest missions focus ever...and wrote a book of the Bible, and another one wrote another book of Jude. I wonder about her other children. She was a member of the first church her self and had a front row view and participation of the greatest events our world has yet to see. I think Driscoll is right, I don't think she was disappointed by her choice.
Choose your role models carefully. Those choices may impact generations to come.

From the Womb

I was listening to another sermon from Mark Driscoll :D. This is his second sermon from Luke called "Luke" John the Baptizer's Birth Prophesied" (http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/john-the-baptizers-birth-prophesied) Luke 1:5-24 talks about how the angel Gabriel showed up to a man named Zacharias and told him that his prayers have been answered and his wife will have a son. It says this, "But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."
Driscoll pointed this out...John was named by God, set apart by God for ministry, and filled with the Holy Spirit...in the WOMB! If that is not an argument for person hood from conception...
Like John, every baby ever conceived (whether born into this world or not) is known to God. Considering our cultures love for murdering our own children in the womb...and on the other hand every baby lost in miscarriage is known by him as well.
Shaun and I called our daughters by their names from the time we knew of their existence. They were named, loved, looked for. We anticipated them with deep love. How much more does God, the one we call Abba Father, love each one of these babies. He too is a parent.