I Can't Wait To See Them!

I had a different "Thankful 30" planned since yesterday.  But as I was starting to write down what I was thankful for, I saw a picture of my sweet baby nephew, Levi, and then another picture of my other nephew, Kai, and felt a huge amount of thankfulness and love for them.  Therefore, today, day 5, I am thankful for my nieces and nephews! =)

Kai:  He is the oldest and an only child to my sissy, Alissa.  He is one of a kind in the sweetest way possible (sweet as in "awww").  God definitely blessed us with a little boy full of heart and love for others.  His awareness of others and giving spirit seems to come naturally (most of the time).  He is so much fun and loves sports.  He would always love coming to watch me play basketball in high school and after the game he would throw down a pretty nice game of (invisible) basketball himself.  Love it!

Alaina:  I don't think I could ever express the love I have for this little girl.  Of course I love all of my nieces and nephews but Alaina's jolly, goofy spirit just gets me every time.  Definitely the most cheerful person I know.  I think the fact that she has cerebral palsy makes me even more amazed at her view on life.  I love it!  The fact that I cannot cuddle her sweet self right now brings tears to my eyes.

Addie:  Oh.My.Man.  Where to start with this little one?  Maybe with the word, adorable!  She just has that sweet little girl, "I am a princess" role.  One of my favorites things is the fact that she loves art.  I think almost every day she colors/draws at least one picture.  I am excited to see her artistic ability grow.  Although at times she chooses to be hurtful with her words, I have found that often she loves to make people feel special (with words, pictures, etc.).  I love her face when you can tell she's trying not to smile (and of course I love it when she's smiling big too!).

Levi:  I have no words.  I love him so much.  I never knew it was possible to love a baby who does pretty much nothing so much!  I can't explain it but I would carry him around all day if I could.  He is such a great baby too.  Hardly ever cries unless he's hungry or dirty.  Gotta love it.  I am super sad that I'm missing these "baby months," but I am glad I have a wonderful sister who is kind enough to hold him in camera view each time we skype. =) (thanks Trish!)

 I love them all so much!  Thank you Jesus for your wonderful blessings you have given me...all four of them.


Hakuna Matata

Too Easily Pleased

The other week I decided to take Alaina out for lunch after picking her up from school. Whenever we ask her where she wants to go out to eat she tells us McDonald's. Usually we end up going somewhere else, leaving her quite sad and maybe a little pouty for a moment. So even though I am not a huge McDonald's fan, I decided to give her a special treat this time.

When we got in the van I told her I had a surprise for her but she had to wait until we got there to find out what it is. She was so excited the whole way. I kept thinking, "Oh yeah, number one Aunt, right here in the driver's seat. She's gonna love this."

As I start to pull in the parking lot (while preparing for uncontrollable praise along with giggles and smiles lasting the rest of the day) I look in my rear view mirror only to see a small child with a confused, not so well pleased look on her face. I ask her if she knows where we are and if she's excited and to my surprise her answer was (in a whiney, ungrateful tone),

"I wanted to go to Chucky Cheese."

Now clearly she should have been happy with her special surprise (and after we got inside she was), but looking at it in a different light, she totally had the right attitude & mindset.

In his book, The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis writes this...

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Again, Alaina had high hopes. Her desires were strong and she was not putting me in a box by thinking I would not give her the very best, as often we do with Christ. If we think about putting anybody in a box God should be last on the list...or even not on the list at all! After all, is He not perfect? Did He not create YOU and the entire WORLD in which you live? Did he not create your very best friend? Did He not give you all that you do not deserve and more? He is a good God, while we are tiny, uneducated humans who don't give Him credit by imagining He really could give us the very best.

As I try to dream bigger than this world, I hope you join me. And together we can experience the things of this world that only take place on a holiday at the sea.

This Is What I Have To Live With...

...And I thank God.
<3 I know it's over a month late, but these pictures are so cute! For Valentines Day I made the girls heart shaped grilled cheese. The sandwiches were yummy and the scraps were fun to play with (and the scraps were also MY lunch). =) They are too cute. Hakuna Matata

"Once Upon A Time..."

silence

"Long, long, ago..."

still nothing

"In a land far, far, away..."

there it is, it's music to my ears...


What is this beautiful sound you may find yourself asking?

Why it's nothing short of my sweet niece Alaina peeing in the potty.

Yes, as soon as her tush hits the seat, we hear,
"Tell me a story."

Usually I go in the above format you just read.

I start with,
"Once upon a time..."
if there is nothing I move to,
"Long, long, ago..."
still nothing?
"In a land far, far, away."

There must be magic in those words because it works just about every time.

Since I have moved in and taken the nanny roll,
she is no longer in search of a typical, "princess get's saved by knight on horse," kind of story. No sir, instead I hear,
"Tell me an African story."

I think this really is helping my creative mind, you know, coming up with a couple of interesting, potty pleasing stories each day, I should say thank you to the little dear for keeping my imagination going.

Maybe some day I will, but for now I'll keep it at,
"And they lived happily ever after.
THE END."

(Kai & Alaina all dressed up in their presents I brought them from Kenya the night I came home)




Hakuna Matata