my intentional season

Happy Christmas!

So I married an amazing man,

(yes, you are, Bud, so deal with it).

It's true, he is the guy who helps me

put into words the struggles of my heart,

and tries to guide me toward the only One

who can meet me in them and get me out of them.

I am thankful for you, best friend.

After weeks of clinging to anything but the Creator,

I found myself surrounded by answered prayers,

but completely struggling to find joy in them.

So after a slight sob fest,

I bucked up and set my phone alarm to wake up before the little ladies,

and put it to my mind to start my day,

seeking Jesus first.

I opened a devotional where I had already quit mid-read, 

and read the words,

"Are You Running on Empty?"

Yes.

Yes, a thousand times, yes!

It's how I had been feeling for weeks!

After talking about the importance of taking care of yourself,

she began talking about the most important part of self care,

seeking solitude for

recharging and refueling,

or for me, refocusing.

She used examples from Jesus' life,

and ended with Paul's prayer for the Ephesians in his letter.

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith --that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length, and height and depth, and to know that love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly that all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

Ephesians 3:14-21

So, during this season filled with many wonderful gifts,

and after a year full of sorrow and wonderful things,

I hope to continue to seek Him first,

remember His love,

so I can be filled with Him,

and pour that out on my family this season.

I do hope you all have a beautiful Christmas finding the Son,

and remember to MAKE time to find Him, yourself!

I know I will!

**Joy to the world! The Lord has come!**

**Let earth receive her King!**

(incredible photo by Haze Nakai, Thanks Haze, and Happy Christmas!!)

two, or as Penny says, "tee-ewww"

- T W O Y E A R S O L D-

Happy Happy Birthday, Pip!

We love you and all the crazy you add to our family!
And to celebrate you, we had a simple breakfast party at the park,
complete with your favorite fruit, coffee cake, and Nana's cinnamon rolls!
You blew out your own candles, first try,
and smiled proudly while everyone cheered!
You tore into your presents, received the greatest group hug,
and climbed all over the playground.

Penelope Lee, 
you are a bright,
fun, spunky girl.
You're a complete mama's girl,
but incredibly friendly with others.
You keep us laughing with your clumsy tendencies,
like that one time you slid off the couch while reading with Dada.
You're a fast learner,
and its fun to see 
the excitement in your eyes
as you learn something new.
We are proud of you little one.

Sometimes, Pip, you can wear me out,
but while you play hard, and fight hard,
you also love hard.
You are quick to say you are sorry,
and quick to hug and kiss.
You look up to your sisters,
and always want to do what they are doing,
even if it drives them crazy.
Sometimes I call you 
"Persistent Pippy"
And I think that is a great quality to possess.

Penny, your dada and I are so thankful to know you,
and to watch you learn and grow.
We love your laugh, the way you growl like a bear,
and the way you tell us stories and jokes.
You are a beautiful child made by God,
given to us, and we are blessed by your little life every day!
So, happiest of birthdays littlest love! 
Here's to many more!

xoxox
Mama

focused on my cake and not my girl, rookie move, yeesh.

ready for birthday nap time

mama day

I have two amazing moms in my life,

 I am one to three,

and maybe someday more.

We celebrated over three days which was really nice,

and it was funny to us when our three year old asked us if 

it was still mother's day last night.

We had Chinese and shopped at Target friday,

I picked up another grey tshirt, ha!

We celebrated with Gram and Pops on saturday

with a soccer game and homemade vanilla cupcakes with

chocolate raspberry frosting.

(seriously, buy this cookbook)

And on Sunday, I was showered with pieces of art,

a gift of 50 promises, and cheeseburgers,

(showered with cheeseburgers, ha, I only ate one but while rereading this it made a funny visual for me)

and finished the day with hanging out with some sweet friends.

However among all the sweetness and love,

there were fits thrown and sleepless nights,

which is what being a mom is all about.

I cannot truly appreciate the fullness and joy of motherhood,

without experiencing some sadness and guilt.

I am thankful to be reminded of His grace on a daily basis.

I can't be a mama without God.

I am so thankful that I get have my best friend help me.

I hope all you mothers, aunts, grandmothers, best friends

know that the love you pour into any children is 

truly a gift.

Thank you for giving constantly!

little cordie is 3

Hi little 3 year old,

I can't believe it, you made it!!

After 3 years of crazy illnesses,

weird bites, odd rashes,

and horrible head bonks,

you are still here!

And we could not be more thrilled.

All joking aside, your dad and I are some of the most blessed parents on the planet.

You are hilarious, so fearless, and headstrong.
You love to sing, play and joke.
You, our 2nd daughter,
are a beautiful child.
So often, while watching you play and interact,
I am wowed by your marble-like, sapphire eyes
so focused on figuring out how to make those blocks do what you want.
You purse your lips too while you work,
and those same lips can produce the biggest pout I have ever seen.

You love all things Superman still,
and I like that.
You are also fond of the snowman from Frozen, Olaf,
and lately have asked to watch "The Croods" every day since it came on Netflix.
You made your own cake this year, chocolate bear-shaped cake,
with white frosting, blue sprinkles and Superman on top.
It was delicious!
You are a great and intentional helper.
You try to always look for ways to help me,
and I find it inspiring and challenging!

As I sit here this morning, just 5 days after your birthday,
watching the gorgeous snowfall,
I reminisce about the day you were born.

February 1st, 2011
during the huge blizzard.
You were by far my easiest delivery and 
were simply the sweetest,
quietest little infant.
You had the most delicate features,
surrounding these two searching eyes.
Your hands and feet were a little purple,
so I warmed you up by laying your new baby self on my skin.
The way you looked at me, I felt like I had known you for so long already.
You are my favorite snow day gift.
As we left the delivery room,
I remember being wheeled down the hall,
windows on each side,
watching fat fluffy snowflakes cascade down all around me.
I was in a snowglobe, and for someone who adores watching snowfall,
it added to the specialness of the day you were born.

I hope you always stay brave, headstrong, and curious.
God has given us you, this special girl,
and I hope to help you grow to know Him, love Him and serve Him.

Dear girl, your daddy and I love you times a billion!

XOXO,
Mama

A few of the Cord

pretty excited about celebrating this little one's life this weekend

After all of her crazy, scary moments, I am pretty glad she's made it three,

and I am floored that I get to be this hilarious, sweet, and brave girl's mama.

five

Well, I have a 5 year old,

and so far, I love it!

Not that I expected not to, but 

this is the first age of my girls that has felt big.

This year I offered Nora the choice of a birthday party,

or a family date, and much to my joy and surprise she chose a family date.

So we had a fun day planned, but when Thursday came around,

my best friend wasn't feeling so well,

so we improvised, postponing family date till he felt better.

Her 5th birthday consisted of,

- Chocolate chip muffins made by mama and the Cord

-Presents

- McDonald's with Playplace time 

- A trip to the mall with just Mama for photo booth pictures

(she wanted a little bit of lipstick for them and I obliged, eek)
- a visit from some great friends

- Facetiming both sets of grandparents,

(we are generously blessed in that department)
- a photo shoot in the leaves.

- Her favorite supper: Mac and Cheese, Chicken, Carrots, and Applesauce
- white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, complete with pony and raspberries

- And more presents

I think for improvising, it was a very fun, special, and full day for our girl.

And here is 5 facts about our 5 year old:

1. She wants to be just a mom when she grows up, 

but she doesn't know what to do with her kids all day.

2. She wants to dance in the Nutcracker,

she doesn't have to be Clara, she just wants to dance.

3. She loves to stick out her tongue in pictures.

4. Her favorite color is pink, purple, red, turquoise, and violet mixed together.

5. She is very thankful for her family.

the last five years

from this sweet baby...

  to this hilariously kind toddler...

to my beautiful, always-dancing preschooler…

 

to this compassionate, brave, fun-loving, silly, precious little girl,

our last five years have been crazy and wonderfully full

with this happy dear!

I am so excited to celebrate your life

this week!

Happy Birthday Nora girl!

I won't eat any more chocolate...

Resolutions are fun!

Setting goals, working towards them,

and sometimes succeeding,

I get giddy just thinking about them.

that's me giddy, ha, actually it's me laughing at the Cord.
Back to resolutions.
While most of my goals aren't easily measured,

they revolve around being more intentional,

present, and focused on those I love and what I do,

I am pursuing a few measurable ones I think you will enjoy with me!
And the title of this post is merely a thought I had,
and quickly expelled because there is no way,
no way at all,
would I ever be able to not eat chocolate.
(but it caught your attention, right?)

---

1. Take a portrait of each of the girls,

every week for a year.

Another blog I enjoy perusing is 

Bleubird Blog,

and she completed the same challenge in 2013.

My girls are at such an age where change is constant

and fast, I am excited to document these changes,

and all the milestones reached this next year.

Also, my darling husband purchased a new Canon t1i for me, (birthday present!)

and I am looking forward to getting more practice,
using it to complete this goal.

2. practice sewing and piano more.
I have always felt more of a jack of all trades, master of none
kind of girl. This next year, I want to no longer spread myself so thin,
I want to pick skills I truly enjoy doing in my spare time,
and practice, and practice and practice.
Along the way, I will share sewing projects,
(I have one I am particularly excited about)
and songs learned.

3. Run a race with my husband.
We have tossed this idea around many different times,
and I feel like this is the perfect year to follow through!
We have absolutely no specifics yet,
10k, 5k, Half, Road, Trail, Warrior…??
It's going to be fun to decide that together,
 but most of all,
I am looking forward to hanging out with him more!

---

And this night, next year I hope that I look back at this post,
I can think back on the year with joy and thankfulness.
Then I will lean over and say to Levi,
 "This was so much fun. What are we going to do in 2015?!"


H A P P Y N E W Y E A R!


+pictures taken by Nora girl, she manages great captures with her i-don't-care-i-shoot-where-i-sit attitude.

she took this one too from her trike. love my girls!

full of Christmas

That was a crazy Christmas!
We drove for miles and miles to arrive at my parents house.
Lots of movies watched, cheerios thrown,
and "Are we in Cincinnati (pronounced Cinsimmatti) yet?" asked.

Upon arriving, it was a blur of a Wedding weekend.
My older sister promised herself to my new brother,
and I couldn't be any happier for them.
It was a beautiful night,
exhausting, but simply beautiful.

Sunday, my sweet mother took Nora girl
to the Nutcracker ballet performed by the Cincinnati Ballet.
The rest of us stayed behind and played games with family 
and snacked on 
truffles (leftover wedding favors) 

and Graeter's Ice Cream.

Tuesday, we saw the movie Frozen,
and absolutely loved it.
We dressed up in our fancy clothes and 
attended the Christmas Eve service at my home church.
Mostly, in the lobby, ha!
It was wonderful to see my childhood friends
and church family.

Christmas day,
my favorite!
I spent most of the night in my daughters' bed due to bad dreams,
and woke up to my 
22 year old brother,
sneaking in at 7:30 to wake up the girls for presents.
(He and his sweet wife stayed at my parents house for more hang out time!)
After waking up everyone in the house,
gifts were torn into,
 squeals and "thank you"s exchanged, 
and then we feasted on pancakes!!
My mother happens to make the best pancakes in the world!

We sat all day by the fire, talking,
watching movies, and resting.
We feasted on peppercorn pork loin, mashed potatoes,
peas and corn, cranberry sauce,
hundreds of rolls,
and chocolate creme pie for dessert!
It took hours for the girls to calm down for bed that night. 
It was perhaps the fault of the 48" Superman
my brother bought for the Cord.
I think they just wanted Christmas to last forever!

uncle bubba and his gift for Cordie

We drove back the next day,
and stopped at Levi's family's new home,
for a couple nights of more feasting and presents.

We have had a whirlwind of a Christmas,
but exchanged so much love,
support and joy,
we feel full,
tired, but full.

I am thankful for you all!

Please bear with me for lack of pictures, I have a new camera and have yet to procure a way to transfer my photos!

Christmas Senses

It's almost here!!

Ahh, I am so excited for this day!

:: Seeing ::

all of our ice and snow melt.
We are glad to be back outside, 
I would still love a white christmas though!

:: Hearing ::

One of my very favorite bands made a Christmas album,

you should give it a listen,

then buy it, 

because it's that wonderful!

 :: Smelling ::

Hot Apple Cider,
my good friend, Devin, showed me an easy recipe
with few ingredients,
and we cannot get enough of it!

 :: Wrapping ::

I have finally found my favorite style to wrap gifts in,
brown butcher paper and colored baker's twine!
I picked up all these fun colors the other day at Hobby Lobby!

Thank you Nana for this gift!

 :: Tasting ::

B U C K E Y E B A R K ! 

recipe pinned from here

20 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate 
 16 oz peanut butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar

melt 10 oz. chocolate in microwave safe bowl 
35 secs at a time, stirring in between.
Once chocolate is smooth,
spread chocolate out on a 
baking sheet lined with parchment paper,
about 1/4 inch thick.
Stick in freezer to firm.

While chocolate is firming up, 
mix peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar well.
Remove chocolate from freezer, 
and spread peanut butter mixture over the chocolate.
Put back in freezer.

Melt remaining chocolate, the same as before.
Once smooth, remove chocolate and peanut butter from the freezer.
Spread the remaining melted chocolate on the peanut butter and stick back in the freezer for 45 minutes.

Remove and use a butcher knife to cut the bark into pieces.

This bark is delicious and great for sharing!

also for sneaking some...and a peek at my dirty kitchen