rain rain go away

the rain has been lingering around here this last week

while I don't mind a little cloudy, rainy weather

I do seem to miss the sun so//

daddy is sweet enough to take ellie out to play regardless of the weather

grateful for daddies {smile}

besides, if there weren't rain

then I wouldn't get to see this darling munchkin

standing with boots so wet in my mud room

say "cheese" ellie {grin}

feeling more settled lately

enjoying having hubby working at home on paperwork so frequently

happy for the middle of the day kisses

loving our little family

realizing who I truly am...humbling, this mother role is

keeping me close to Jesus/ on my knees for wisdom

which is a good thing

ellie is holding a cup of cheerios for those of you who were curious...

 life is full of these moments

moments I just try to hold on to and not miss

keeping my camera nearby in hopes of capturing them forever

I want my children to know how very much their mommy loves them

always always

so I write//

a journal with pictures to remember this fleeting, precious time

Was it Lost?

Do you remember when I told you about the phrase Steve uses when I call him and say, "I found something!  He will often say "Oh, was it lost?"

Well, we had that conversation again recently.

I was at a second-hand store of sorts and found this toddler bed that was adorable.  I had never seen anything like it.  It supposedly held a regular sized single mattress.  And it was absolutely adorable.  Oh, I already mentioned that!

Steve got the call.  He came and met me and said I could take the lost find home!!!!!

BUT

When we got it home:

it didn't fit where I thought it would,
it didn't hold a single mattress like the lady mentioned it would, (because I already had one of those)
and, now I was sad about my wonderful find.

You do remember that my husband is Mr. Handyman Extraordinaire?  He is, you know.  And he fixed that bed all up and made it so that it would hold that single mattress.

Then it involved rearranging a whole room!  Goodness, what have I gotten myself into.


Here is the rearranged room with the "find".

The headboard has a cute teddy decal.

And the baseboard has a cute bunny decal.  (as you all know, we are VERY partial to bunnies at this house!)

Now, the real challenge begins.

Will Ellie take a nap in this new find?

The first attempt produced no nap.
The second attempt produced no nap.
The third attempt...the same...no nap. 

However, Ellie never got down from the bed, she didn't fuss, and she just didn't take a nap.  We have a preschool right next door.  Ellie is very fascinated with the children.  She would just watch them out the window.

But, we were not going to give up on this.  After all, this bed was a great find!!!!!


The fourth attempt was a grand success!

Every attempt after has been a grand success.

Ellie and her bunny now sleep in a big girl bed that was lost but has now found a new home!

findings

in going through some notebooks the other day 
I found this piece of paper with such words of wisdom, 
I had to share it with you all

Attitude

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.

It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.  It will make or break a company...church...a home.

The remarkable thing is that we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.  We cannot change our past...We cannot change the fact that people will react in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play upon the one string we have, and that is our attitude...

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.  And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes.

Charles Swindoll

{during the aftermath of the California wildfires, my dad and I volunteered

with Samaritan's Purse to offer help to those that had lost everything...

we would take a site of a home that had been completely reduced to rubble, and proceed to remove all the mess, taking care to preserve any treasures that were left, and leaving the owners with a swept, clean foundation to begin again with...we also presented each and every household with a Bible that we had all signed and prayed over...the real essence of beginning again//

anyway, this paper was given to us volunteers at the beginning of one of our long workdays, 

and I find it so simply profound}

mother's day 2012

mother's day this year was made even more special by having the addition of the little mr. hudson to hold and love on...a mother twice over...

I am so blessed

while my family was out of town gallivanting over in coeur d'alene,

we spent the afternoon and evening 

celebrating with my in-laws

{this is huddy-buddy, as my dad calls him, with his little cousin, adler maltby

adler is just three weeks older than hudson}

the guys and my jay's younger sisters made us mamas a beautiful and flavorful dinner consisting of grilled hamburgers, brats, and colorful, marinated chicken and vegetable kabobs...with fresh fruit salad...mmmm...

 and for dessert: chocolate and coconut creme pies

so good!

it was a lovely, sunny day//

just the type of day that makes you want to spend every minute outside delighting in it

and, we got our first official picture as a family of four!!!

it's about time, ha

{ellie being silly and sticking her tongue out, and hudson almost smiling in this shot}

thank you gentlemen and emily, anna, and katie for the wonderful dinner

and thank you, Lord, for the beautiful day, the gift of being a mother, and the blessing of our mamas to celebrate too

a birth announcement

as these have already been posted in the mail, and I won't be ruining any surprises...

I thought you all might like a peek at little hudson's birth announcement

made, of course, by that amazingly talented twin of mine 

{ashley@libertystreetwest.com}

musings

found myself scribbling "I love JAY" all over

ellie's doodle pad while

I was nursing today...

must be really missing that husband of mine

(he is working out of town all this week)

{sad}

Roadtrip Cautions

We took a weekend trip.  In our family history, I can only remember one other time that we have left town and responsibilities for just a couple of days.   Seems that we always travel so far away that a whole week or more is necessary.  

This time we traveled just four hours away for a weekend worship conference in Coeur d'Alene.  The town is as pretty as its name.  Saturday was an all day workshop for Ashley and I while Mom and Dad discovered the sights.   When our two hour dinner break rolled around, Mom and Dad picked us up and showed us everything they had discovered that day crammed into 1 1/2 hours.  We want to go back.

a rest stop on the way not equal to the beauty of CDA

Another plus of Coeur d'Alene is that Spokane is a mere 30 minutes away.  Civilization anyone?  Shopping malls with an Apple store, restaurants such as The Old Spaghetti Factory, and a six-laned freeway bring home to mind.  We did treat Mom to lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory and dragged Dad through a torturous (for him) hour and a half at the mall.  We didn't buy accouterments, just absorbed the general atmosphere.

Welcome to Washington

The dangers of this road trip were definitely unique to northern forest climates.  You round a corner of a mountain road to be greeted by the sight of a group such as these in your lane.

taken after they kindly moved out of our lane for us

The closest encounter came on the way home at twilight, when a mule deer jumped out on the road.  He thankfully kept moving instead of looking into our headlights, otherwise there might be a new dent on our bumper.  In all, we saw:

• the above seven bighorn sheep
• about twenty mule deer in groups of one or two
• two big bucks
• about thirty white-tailed deer grazing in the ditches next to the road
• and a really cool osprey

Granted, the last one wasn't a danger, but the others all could have been.  In our former lives, we had to keep our eyes out for crazy human drivers, not suicidal animals.  

In all, it was a good weekend.  And waiting to give us hugs when we got home was this just too cute little munchkin.  

If you haven't had the opportunity just to get away for a couple of days, I highly suggest it.   No one minds feeding your dog/cat/rabbit/horse for two days and the payoff is sweet.   You don't have to plan as much as a whole week or more vacation and you can explore some of the beauty around your area.  Just find a better hotel than we did, or you will be as sleep deprived as all of us were!

only ellie

only my little ellie girl could manage to drop something (just a can of tomato paste, and a toy house!) on both of her big toes within a day of each other....ouch!!!

don't know if you all can tell, but her right toenail is purple even below the nail bed...

ick...I think she might lose that one  {sad}

the other toe just bled and bled and bled...a little unnerving, but it seems fine now

this mommy is thinking of getting her girlie a pair of steel toed boots for the future!

hi ellie, say "cheese" for mommy

ok, well, I guess that will have to work!  {grin}

reflections

as the sun sets on another busy day,

and my two little darlings are sleeping peacefully,

I find a quiet moment to reflect on all the good things God has done

motherhood may bring it's challenges, but it is one of the greatest blessings God has given me

to wake up every morning to the sound of a little voice calling me...wanting me...loving me...needing me...

and I realize that it is I who need them

the beauty of a life...and the unspeakable joy that has been mine in bringing two little lives into this world...this world that, sadly, doesn't always treasure life

but I do,

and tonight, I'm aching to save a little life...to be able to do something other than sitting and thinking and wishing and hoping and praying and praying and praying

knowing that the utmost I can do is bring it before our Heavenly Father who is able to effect change even in the hearts of kings (proverbs 21:1)

and while this happens most unfortunately to thousands of babies....how different it becomes to know of one specifically....

it becomes not just a statistic, but a life that will soon be no more

breaks my heart

tragic really...so tragic

this cause has always been so near and dear to my heart...long before I had the privilege of becoming a mother...

pray with me today will you? for all of the sweet lives that are dependent upon the whim of an individual who, whether they realize it or not, has been granted one of God's greatest gifts...growing inside of them

The Fickleness of Spring

Rain, snow, sun . . . if you don't like the weather, wait an hour and it will change.

Not too long ago, I took these pictures out at Kacey's house.  Early spring.

Just a few days ago, I took this picture.  Middle spring.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of rain.  I guess I am not inspired to get wet photographing puddles.  Yesterday, Mom drove north 25 minutes to the fancy ski town of Whitefish.  There was sun where she started, rain in between, and snow in Whitefish. Craziness.

The frosty outside of Kacey's house with snow piles from the plowed driveway.  The downstairs is their livable space and the entire upstairs is a construction project.  They are hoping to get two bedrooms done up there soon for Ellie and themselves.

Now that it is warmer, the bugs have come out, both inside and outside.  Did I tell you about the ladybug in my ear?  No?

Here's the story:  Woke up early in the morning to a tickle in my ear.  Tried to ignore it and then heard a dreadful noise in my ear.  Rustling and rolling and thundering in my head without ceasing.  Dealt with it for a couple of hours until the urgent care opened then went in and they flushed my ear out.  The bug was only a baby, so small, and yet he sounded like a giant when he was struggling against my eardrum.  The doctor said he once pulled a cockroach out of a boy's ear that was driving the boy mad.   I can testify that it is really hard not to freak out when something is constantly wiggling against your eardrum.  

Anyway, no permanent damage, and now I have a funny story :)

I think the bunnies are happy about a little warmer weather.  

Ellie likes to help me feed them apple cores which makes them very happy too.

The leaves are starting to grow on the trees creating dappled shadows on the ground once again.  With all the rain, you can literally watch the grass grow, recreating the desolate winter landscape into spring happiness. 

And you can literally watch Hudson grow too.   He is already in 3-6 month onsies and is quite the little man.  

And Ellie enjoys playing with Photo Booth on the iPad.  

Happy spring to you all.