WFMW: Crayons Stay ON THE PAPER!!

What Keeps Me Going

“Many are the plans in a man's heart,

but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.”

(Proverbs 19:21).

Mike and I have this conversation over and over:

Me: "So I've been thinking... Wouldn't it be fun if... And we could... So can you take off work on these days... And then what if..."

You get the idea.

Mike: "That is like 12 minutes from now. Why are you already thinking that far ahead? A lot can happen between now and then. Let's just wait and see, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it..."

Again, you get the idea.

I am a planner. I thrive on "projects." At any given time, I have at least 9 ideas that are rolling around in my head of things I want to "work on." It may be a craft project, an outing, a trip, a holiday celebration, a get-together with family or friends, an organization/cleaning exploit, an exercise goal, a mass cooking endeavor, a plot to surprise my husband (I have yet to successfully accomplish this one)...

Mike says I create unnecessary work for myself. I see my projects not as a chore, but as something to look forward to. These are the things that get me thru the work week! (These are also the things that keep me from falling asleep some nites because I can't get my mind to power down!!)

Anyway, yesterday I was thinking about all the fun things we have to look forward to this spring and summer. I love spring and fall because they mark the kickoff of the two totally different, yet equally exciting halves of the year. In the fall, we anticipate the cooler weather, the leaves changing colors, pumpkin patches, trick or treating, enjoying way too much food with our families for Thanksgiving, hot chocolate, cookie exchanges, decorating for Christmas and celebrating Jesus' birthday. Springtime brings us new life-the world around us thaws out (for those of us living in arctic terrains like Kansas City), flowers bloom, children emerge from hibernation and scatter into neighborhood yards and parks. We shop for special Easter outfits, we pull out our shorts and flip flops. We enjoy (again) way too much food and candy while we celebrate Jesus' resurrection, and we count down the days till the pools open! (The only downside to summer break is that for us grown-ups, it does not exist.)

Here is what the brainstorm in my head would look like on paper line:
(click on the red links if you want details!)

running as many 5k races as i can so i can get the fun t-shirts.the parents-as-teachers earth day carnival on april 18th.celebrating easter with our family and hosting our first easter egg hunt for some friends and their kiddos.deanna rose farmstead opening in april.visiting nana star and papa t and our wonderful friends in tulsa in april.organizing a girl's day/mother's day celebration for the mom's in my family.farmer's markets opening in may.our neighborhood pool opening memorial day wkend.visiting grammy sue and papaw in norman over memorial day.going to the sugarland concert for my 29th b-day (thank you husband!!!).getting the go-ahead from my OB to try again in may.brax's first swim lessons for two weeks in june.unlimited classes for brax thru the summer at my gym.outdoor play-sprinklers,the park,picnics,sidewalk chalk,the water table.water parks!attempting to surprise mike for father's day (any ideas???).the zoo.our annual 4th of july celebration at aunt kathi's farm house.brax's 2nd birthday on july 22!

And that was just a rough draft.

I'm telling ya'll, I need a tranquilizer. But it's SO FUN to look forward to things!

With that said, I have to remind myself daily to slllllowwww....dowwwwnnnn and enjoy the moment. I have to insist to myself, "Self, hold that thought. Take THIS moment in, savor it. It will be gone in the blink of an eye." This especially holds true with Brax; we all know that children don't stay little for long.

An important introspection that sometimes gets lost while all these other ideas are blowing around in the wind tunnel between my ears is the point that is made in the scripture I referenced above.

“Many are the plans in a man's heart,

but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.”

(Proverbs 19:21).

It's fun for me to have all these things to plan for and look forward to, but am I spending enough time preparing for my ultimate destination? Am I following the path that God has laid out for me? Do I allow my soul to be quieted long enough to actually hear His directions?

Just in case you need a visual, this is the image

that best describes my brain activity sometimes most of the time:

Just in case you need a translation of this random analogy:
Replace the dollar bills with my random thoughts. Get it now?

What are YOUR plans for this new season???????

Snow Day #2

When we woke up this morning, it was still too cold to enjoy the 5 inches of snow we got, so we made do with the sled INdoors. Brax has this Leap Frog steering wheel thing that makes car noises and music, and it fit perfectly in the front of his car-sled!

"Got my car keys... let's hit the road!"

"Movin' right along..."

"I better shift this bad boy into HIGH gear!"

Singing along to the music.

"WHOAAAAAAA Nelly! What a ride!"

"I'm so funny, aren't I?"


It turned out to be a really nice afternoon. The snow melted quickly!

Just so you know, that rope is tied around my waist and I am pulling him like a freakin' workhorse around the yard. Harder than it looks, I might add.

He'd rather dig.

And catch the ice cold water in his shovel.

Sometimes I like to take pictures of the two of us just for proof that I was actually there. It seems that I am always the one behind the camera since Mike thinks taking pictures is a big fat waste of time.

Good throw!

Stellan

Please continue to keep baby Stellan in your prayers.
Click HERE or on the button on my sidebar to visit their blog for an update. My heart is breaking for this beautiful little boy and his family. His momma hasn't said so, but I'm sort of assuming that if he DOES go into heart failure, the only "cure" would be a transplant?? What an awful position to be in, as a mom. How do you prayer for another baby to die so that yours can live???? I am reminded, again, what a pure miracle each and every baby truly is.

Snow Day Entertainment

We were struggling to find things to pass the time today during this ridiculous spring snowfall! This morning the ground was clear, and we thought the weather man was a liar. By mid-afternoon, we saw that for once, the weather man was right. So we spent the day holed up indoors... Here's what we did...

This morning we could see our newly green grass.

Fun with pipe cleaners.

That was short-lived.

Then I made shapes out of scrapbooking cardstock paper.

I have to take them to Kinko's to get laminated tho, or Brax will destroy them.

He loves to say "circle."

"I'm done, Momma. What's next??"

Toy Story! One AND Two!!!

I couldn't believe he sat still long enough to watch the majority of both (with food/nap breaks in between.) And I always said I'd never let my kids watch this much TV. That was before I realized just how long one day could actually be when you can't leave the house.

I enjoyed the snuggle time :-)

Early afternoon...

I painted my toe nails while Brax napped.

Should have shaved that big toe before my foot's photo shoot.

Brax's favorite neighbor, Jace, brought over one of his old toys!

Brax got a good 20 minutes of enjoyment out of this race track.

That's a long time for him!

Now we're getting desperate. Playing with diaper boxes.

Everyone's favorite boredom-buster...

FOOD!

Brax helped me make chocolate chip cookies.

"What do I do with this thing?"

"I lick it??"

"Ooooh! This IS the best part!"

"I'll take this one... and this one."

"Num-a-num-a-num!"

In typical Brax fashion, he wanted the chocolate wiped off his hands and face immediately.

Late afternoon....

And that was our snow day!

Hope you all enjoyed yours too!

Playdate and a Project

Our friends Abbey and Noah came over yesterday to play!

HIGH FIVE!!

How stinkin' cute is this?

Noah loving on his Mommy.

Brax and I made a little Easter project...

I filled some plastic Easter eggs with

Cheerios, jingle bells, dry pasta, rice and beans
so they would be little noise makers. I super-glued them together.

We got these from CVS pharmacy--
I like that they have different faces on them,
to help him learn "feelings" too.