It's a New Year? Already?

I've been feeling the pressure from Facebook friends to comment on the coming New Year so to get myself in the mood I went back and read my post from last year. My sentiments regarding looking forward to changing seasons and major events more than the new year still ring true.
Regarding my resolution to-do list:
I did repaint the kiddos room though it needs to be done again. I did not repaint my own. The rock in the driveway was moved and my organizational skills and cleaning motivation have definitely improved. Movies...ahh well, you can't win them all. Actually with the addition of kindergarten homeschooling work into our daily routine the movie watching has diminished.
A lot happens in a year. (Call that the understatement of the year...) There is a little girl crawling around my feet right now who was in my belly at this time last year. There is a Clayton - ayton who happily sings Jingle Bells and no longer wears arm bands at all, who's face is kiss-ably soft once more. There is an Ivan who is four and loves wooden trains and his school work. There is a Hannah who got a violin for Christmas last year and can play a recognizable Jingle Bells and Mary Had a Little Lamb. There is a Erik who still enjoys building houses and is thankful for a wonderful boss to work for and there is me who enjoys her life as a mom but loves mommy-breaks and who finally figured out a sourdough bread recipe that we all enjoy.
I don't think I'll make resolutions this year, they end up to much like to-do lists and I will probably sleep through the changing of the years tonight, unless a little girl I know happens to be hungry.
All that said, for those planning parties and New Year's Eve surprises and kisses, I hope you have a grand time but more than that I pray you do have a wonderful new year!

Tongues

A few weeks ago Ivan stuck out his tongue in jest and I noticed something weird. He had a bald spot. Yes, you read that right, a bald spot, on his tongue. Just off to the side was a very smooth circle on his tongue. I asked if his tongue hurt at all and he said no. I resolved to keep an eye on it and see what happened. I asked him to stick out his tongue the next day and the bald spot was a little smaller and it looked like taste buds where growing back in the middle but on the other side of his tongue there was another little bald spot. So I took to Google and searched (I think I typed in "smooth bald spots on child tongue"). We think he had a case of Geographic Tongue. Apparently it's of no concern but it sometimes happens and "they" don't know why. It's characterized by smooth patches of the tongue that show up in different locations on the tongue but that do grow back. I checked his tongue a few more times and then promptly forgot about it because it didn't bother him at all. Then today, I remembered so I had Ivan stick out his tongue and lo and behold his tongue looks normal. I think I exclaimed, "Why Ivan, your tongue is healed!" To which he replied, "Jesus made me better, he swam from here (pointing to his heart) up to here (his mouth) and made my tongue better."

Made me pause and think of this:

James 3:5-10
Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

Dear Jesus,
Please swim from my heart to my tongue and heal it.
Amen

More Red Shoes

What can I say? I love red shoes. These shoes of mine that Hannah is wearing are actually red but I took the photo with black and white film, which I also love, and colored them in by hand on my really, really (really) old Adobe PhotoShop program. Playing with pictures is not my art-form and I'll probably play with this picture more but this is my first attempt and I'm tired. Please don't click on it and look at it closely because you can really tell that it's colored in poorly.





You clicked, didn't you? : (

Boots, Red Boots Part II

They came today! The mailman dropped them off this morning...the shipping box was opened but everything was there. Yay for Red Boots!

Boots, Red Boots

I have a wonderful husband and not just because he lets me buy shoes. I've been eye-ing a really fun pair of boots lately and noticed the other day that they were not only on sale but I could also get an extra 20% off my entire order...alas, there are so many other things that the money could go towards and I already have a few pairs of boots. Well, I was drooling over them when Erik came home early for lunch and we had already discussed me running to T-Spot during his lunch break so I jumped up from the computer and ran for it (I wanted as much time as possible to touch all the yarns...) leaving the picture of the boots on the screen. When I pulled myself away from the yarns and came home I was greeted with, "So are you just hoping those boots will order themselves?" I said, " Well no, I was just looking again." Though I will admit to saying it with just the tiniest of sighs. He gave me a big hug and a kiss and said, "oh, go ahead and buy them."
It seriously made my day and I don't think it was just the prospect of new shoes (red boots at that!) but it was just knowing that my husband, known for being a penny pincher a lot of the time, let me spend a little money frivolously because he loves me. He's a keeper. (Ha! As if there was ever any question.)