In a blink of an eye...

Why is it that the days can seem so long and when I look back, it was only yesterday that we welcomed March with an East Coast "snow storm?" What have I been doing in these last three weeks? Where has the time gone?

• I'm happy to say that we conquered potty training in the last three weeks. Praise God! Our monthly diaper bill dropped and my three year old is an official big boy! We are so very proud of him.


• We also faced a full ten + days of sickness. I am STILL catching up on laundry!!


• Our cranky, fussy little girl was diagnosed with allergies: wheat and eggs to be exact. And so, we're learning to adjust to a new diet. Between the kids and my hubby, I need a spreadsheet to determine who can eat what.


• We're still in the midst of kitchen renovations: the cabinets and appliances are here, there, and everywhere as we finish prepping the walls for priming and painting. The end is in sight...and yet I still feel so far away from having a functioning kitchen.

Some days I read other's blogs about what they're doing with their children and what's going on in their lives and I feel like such an inadequate mother. Especially on those days when our biggest accomplishment is getting out of bed! And so I keep coming back to these words from Romans that are (usually) posted on my refrigerator:

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:1-2, The Message

Do you see what I see in here?

• "God helping you": I'm not alone in this journey of motherhood. And on those days when all we do is fold laundry and play countless games of Bingo, read the same books again and again...this life is pleasing to God.


• "Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him." Wow! All I have to do is look around at the people I live with to see what God has done for me...and I am silent, awestruck, humbled by the blessings bestowed upon me.


• "God brings the best out of you." Thank you Lord because if it were up to me most days...

Andrew has been going around the house singing and signing "What a Mighty God We Serve" and when I stop to hear his little voice praising God, I am gently reminded that my everyday, ordinary life is pleasing to Him...and it should be pleasing to me as well. Let it be so, Lord. Let it be so.

SNOW DAY

Our world, at 7 am...peaceful, silent, snowy, still, beautiful. I stand in awe of thousands of tiny snowflakes falling to the earth, covering the ground in beauty.



7:45 am: Andrew and Daddy enjoy a good snowball fight while shoveling the driveway before daddy has to report to work, two hours late.

11:30 am: a tradition in the Holloway household. On the first snow day of the season, my mom made homemade donuts while my cousins and I were sledding on goat hill; a tradition that I am more than happy to carry on and share with my own children (minus the sledding on goat hill).

~2:00 pm: donuts are cut with fun cookie cutters by Andrew and mommy and are ready for their second rise of the day.

3:45 pm: the oil is hot and the donuts are a'fryin. Daddy walks in the door to yummy hot goodness right out of the pan.

Can you see why we LOVE snow days?

Traveling with a 3 Year Old

Snippets of an ongoing conversation with Andrew during the last 30 minutes of our recent trip to PA to visit the grandparents. Andrew was very well aware that we were getting close!

* I'm trying to be patient mommy, but I just want to be at grandmom and pop-pop's. Can't you catch up to that white van...you're faster!

*Mommy, PA and pop-pop are the same. P for PA and P for Pop-Pop. "Puh"

* Mommy, look, there's a shooter (referring to a windsock). I explained what a windsock was and that someone we knew used to land his airplane in that field. "You mean our Dave? Dave with Luke, Dave who takes me on the merry-go-round...let's go visit him."

*Wow...all I can see are cows...

*Look at all the crows trying to eat the cornstalks. There's black crows and white crows...I wonder if there are any woodpeckers.

Andrew, living with you is never dull!!!

Joy in the midst of chaos

The dreariness of winter is here. We were blessed with two 60 degree days which were spent outside for hours on end, but the dreary, gray, cold, snowless days are upon us here in NOVA. And inside my house, chaos reigns:

Yes, that's my oven in the middle of the floor. And the missing cabinets in the corner were taken out by some high school boys during small group. We let them use a saw in our house!!

The metallic wallpaper is gone...after two days of scraping. And now, we're patching drywall after adding outlets, priming, and I will soon paint it a soothing OCEAN RIDGE blue.

One of my handymen...doing his work in his overalls, "just like daddy." Andrew loves working with tools...and loves looking at tools at the hardware store. This is a good thing since we seem to visit the hardware store every other day or so. His latest acquisition: his very own tape measure.

Our dining room table...this poor card table will never recover from the construction. But, it has been the hub of all activity in the house. It's where we eat, craft, go over bills, talk and enjoy one another's company.

In the midst of all the deconstruction, construction and craziness, I've found joy in such simple things:

Four top teeth soon...soon....to descend through the gums. I'm saddened that her smile will change, but thankful that some of the misery of teething will be over.

I often find my children in this position...books strewn all over the floor while both of them are engrossed in "reading" a favorite. The other day, I stumbled upon Andrew reading "Blue Hat, Green Hat" to his sister. Yep, there were tears!

The man I love...tackling new projects every day. Learning new skills; studying to solve problems; amazing me with his knowledge and what he can do; patiently sharing a project with his son; my heart skips a beat still.

There is joy in the chaos of life...and I am very grateful.

A Split Second Decision

There he was; thirty minutes past his bedtime, peeping his head out into the kitchen. "Are you done choppin' those pickles yet mommy?" He grins, with his gap toothed grin that lights up his face. "I really really want you to cuddle with me puhlease."

I've heard myself all day -- "Andrew, don't do that. Andrew, please. No, I can't paint with you, I need to fix dinner. Andrew, Andrew, Andrew."

It was a split second decision: do I nag about him still being up or do I run after him, give him a great big hug and go cuddle with him? By the grace of God, I chose the latter...and I am a better mother for it.

Yes, he's still awake....but during that quality cuddle time, we got to pray and I heard his sweet little voice talk to Jesus. And then God graciously forgave my faults by showing me just how much this little boy sleeps like his mom. Choosing to cuddle until he's really tired...and then pulling away and curling onto his side for a good night's sleep.

There are still things that need to be done tonight. Laundry to be folded, dishes to wash, lunch to make; but I got to spend twenty quality minutes cuddling with my boy. Thank you Lord for giving me the opportunity to just be a mommy tonight!

SNOW!

OK -- all you midwest and westerners can laugh hysterically but we finally got snow! Three inches or more which is now getting a topcoat of sleet, freezing rain and ice; but oh, it was so blissful to be outside in the snow today. The county schools were already off for a teacher work day but rest assured that they'll face at least a delay tomorrow...no one around here knows how to drive in this stuff!!

Any excuse to play with our backhoe, dumptruck and tractor with the bucket...helping daddy clear the driveway.

Other fun and random pictures from our past week:

Marcail fingerpainting for the first time. When she gives into her laughter, it's with reckless abandon.

Andrew and daddy share a laugh before the dolphin show at the Baltimore Aquarium.

Our house may be a three ring circus for the next few days. A friend's two year old is staying with us while she heads to the hospital to deliver his baby brother. A new baby...how very exciting. We're so anxious to meet this new little member of our small group! And so I celebrate with one friend and grieve with another very dear friend who is at this moment in the hospital. Jill, a dear friend from eons ago, lost her sweet daughter at a little over 30 weeks. In those moments of sheer frustration with my own children, I am reminded how very blessed I am. Won't you join me in praying for Jill as she mourns and Christy as she rejoices. I am so thankful that both of these dear friends rest in the hands of our precious Savior.

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16

A Magic Act

Want to see five dozen cookies disappear in less than 20 minutes?

Put them in front of five teenage boys who are gearing up for a "small group Bible Study" involving play station 2. It's a good thing I had to taste test one of them before they went to the boys, otherwise I would have been sorely disappointed.

As I write, Andrew and Marc are busy making me a meal with their new kitchen set (a Christmas gift)...I believe I will soon be dining on a mixture of oatmeal, rice, oregano, basil, rosemary and sage. Certainly sounds delicious, don't you think?


Happy Thursday to you!