Cabin Fever

We headed to my parent's cabin this weekend and had a great time. When we arrived in Friday night the girls were a little disappointed that there was no snow. On Saturday as we hiked around we decided that we would splurge and go to the Ski Resort across the way and buy tickets to play in the sled/snow play area. We had a blast - and to top it off, by the middle of the day i started to snow!! The girls loved trying to catch the snow in their mouth, and had a great time sledding, building snowmen, making snow balls and snow angles...it was such a fun filled family weekend. Hannah and Kate are both eager to go back to the cabin!

Paint Therapy

With four girls in our house , sometime things can get a little intense emotionally. We are going through a bit of an emotionally demanding time with Hannah. The other day she completely lost control, so although she had already rested for 20 minutes, I told her she needed to rest again. The screaming, kicking, flailing and out of control behavior that followed was so intense that I put her in Rachel Lee's crib so she would not hurt herself or me. It was bad.

Fast forward 50 minutes and I was at my wits end. Out of desperation I called Jeff and asked him what I should do and asked him to pray for my patience and her heart to be softened (praise God for my husband and partner in parenting!). He suggested telling her to rest quietly for 5 minutes and if she could not that after dinner she would go to bed right away with no play time with Daddy...the logic being rest now or rest later but you will rest. Hannah settled and regained control for a 5 minute rest time (praise the LORD!) and before we talked about what she did that was inappropriate and what she needs to do next time (what I call our healing conversation), we painted. We both needed time to cool off, to enjoy being together and to just relax. I put on some quite praise music and we sat together and painted with each other. (Rachel Lee joined in as well and seemed to really enjoy her first paint session.)





While we were cleaning up the paints, Hannah initiated the healing conversation by saying, "Mom, I'm sorry I hit you. I love you." I was blessed by her soft heart and that she initiated our conversation. The conversation that followed was a great...I talked to her about our need for forgiveness, our need for the Holy Spirit to give us self-control even when we are disappointed and our need to respond safely even when we are mad. I praise God for Jeff's suggestion, his prayers and for Hannah's heart being softened and brought to repentance before I asked her to be repentant. It's humbling to admit when you are wrong, and I am blessed by her humility. Here she is, enjoying paint therapy, my silly little 4 year old girl:

Birthday with a Side of Good News

My Dad's birthday was at the end of January and although we were sick over his birthday weekend that did not keep us from celebrating a bit late...Happy birthday, Dad!!



And we also had Kate's four week surgery follow up and the doctor said that Kate's hearing was "perfect." Every mom wants to hear "perfect" when it comes to kids, so I am just elated that Kate is hearing, and I pray that her ears stay clear and healthy for a long time. Praise GOD!!

Monkey Business

Rachel Lee loves the stroller these days, but is still learning to maneuver around the house. She loves pushing the monkey though













And loved being pushed in the stroller...
























But Kate did not like being hit with the monkey...




































And everyone LOVED jumping in the crib like a monkey!

Loving Life in San Diego!

My sister Rachel and her family just had a snow storm and had 3 feet of snowfall. It's in the 40's in Boston, but life here in San Diego is 79 and sunny, so we turned on the sprinklers for some summer day fun in the winter!




































































































































Did I mention that Rachel Lee has a new unlimited text plan??? We're trying to figure out how to limit her texting time...ugh!

A Typical Morning

Three mornings during the week we have to be dressed and out of the house at a certain time: two days for Hannah's preschool and one day for Bible study. It just makes me appreciate the mornings with my girls when we can hang out in our jammies, be silly, play games, eat breakfast, sip coffee (just me of course!) and enjoy being together without an agenda to our day. I know these days are sweet and limited since next yea Hannah will be in Kindergarten and we will have to be at school everyday on time. So, here are some snapshots, of our typical "at home" mornings:

16 Minutes

As I was parking today at Vons today I only had one thing to get from the store: Milk. I was trying to decide where to park and was contemplating the 15 minute parking which are right in front of the store and thought aloud:

S: Do you think we can get milk in 15 minutes?
H: No, you should look for the 16 minute parking.