New House

beyond the tip of your nose.

a random thought just struck me. we know nothing about our lives; yet we spend a good chunk of them trying to plan life out. i was looking back at some things that were such a huge part of my life, and now- just memories. how can something we used to know so well become something we don't know at all. how many years do we waste formulating how it will be when we are five, 13, sixteen...graduating....dating...getting married..and for us the biggest one- having kids. i was thinking back on some of my plans. wow- if some of the things i planned had come true...my story would have a different name. i would have no idea about the joy that comes from emma needing to always hold my hand. even if it is for a 2 step walk down the hallway. when i was 16, i had no idea that lauren's laugh would make me smile to think about. i didn't know to think about 4 girls calling "mommy" a million times a day. funny, because i could swear i knew it all! none of the things that i thought would happen, happened. the stick band that my childhood best friend and i dreamed up never came to fruition either. luckily, we only focused on that plan for 1 lazy, summer day. i certainly know that God has THE plan for my life, for everyone's life........yet think about all the plans that we try to manipulate for years. more than once i have looked back at my life, the way i intended it to go and thought; "i bet i gave God a good chuckle over that one. or maybe He is thinking, "so help me child...you just do not get it." so when our sight is so short and our grip on the future is so weak...why do we keep trying? why does it feel like we have such a big life picture to paint and we are the only painters to do it? i have no idea what is around the bend for my girls. i make myself crazy thinking about all of the things i need to protect them from..will they listen when i tell them that guy is a bad choice...you dont want to move that far from your loving mother, etc. will they even hear it? lauren cannot even hear me call her for dinner, which may tell me it doesn't look good. i know that their choices willplay a part in their shaping--but oh, if i could protect them from the parts that will make them look back and wince. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord...." Maybe it would be helpful if they put the "I" in bold. to remind us there is a difference b/t our plans and His. and praise God that there is!! i had no idea what was up ahead for me. i have no idea what is around the corner. but i am glad that someone does and that He throws all that grace and joy down into my life...even on the days i forget and think that i am still in the lead.

just like her mother.

i just discovered something about anna. she has inherited my inability to contain a laugh; even when it is inapproriate or rude. she is still cackling as i type. i was helping her with a computer game and she was standing on the chair behind, playing with my hair. she lost her balance and held onto my hair while she fell. i said "ouch! you pulled my hair" she made no response, but i noticed she had walked to the corner of the office and was making some odd noises. i thought that maybe she was upset, so i turned around to find her hunched over covering her mouth. i said "anna rae, are you LAUGHING at me?" she pointed to my hair and says "YOU LOOK JUST LIKE A UNICORN!!" followed by an absolute fallover laughter. it is the darndest problem to have...whenever people trip and fall or walk into things--it totally cracks me up. the more i try to hold it in, the worse it gets. i believe this landed me in the principals office once. that teacher just felt stupid that she walked into the doorframe and she took it out on me. apparently, mr. soodsma has the same problem...he had a smirk on his face too!

snow day.

claire, emma, anna and our little friend aaliyah went across the street to go sledding. i see anna walking back home, so i walk outside to see what is going on. a weepy anna tells me that as she was going down the hill, emma kicked her elbow. i gave her a hug and said, "honey, you have a big, puffy coat on...it should be feeling ok now?" she responds, "she did it on purpose, and it hurt my heart the most."

good point. a puffy coat offers no protection against that.

bonding.

miss emma rose decided that she wanted to snuggle with me for a couple of minutes. i turned oprah on and they were doing this valentines show. one particular story made me tear up a bit, and emma, who was sitting on my lap, cranks her head up and says "why you doing this?" and she pulls this face that looks like she is going down a big hill on a scary roller coaster. i say "that is a nice story...mom is crying a little because it is really sweet. just like i cried when you were born, because it was so special." she replies, "oh." i think, that was a good lesson on enjoying the things in life that make us happy. she looks back up at me and says...

"you look ugly when you cry."

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY.

2007 recap

sorry to say that these events will not be in chronological order....they will be listed as they pop in my head. no offense if i missed some large memory of '07 that involved any of you..."i am feeling rather sleepy.."

*listed and sold our 3rd house
*packed up and moved into our backyard (well, our friends house in the backyard)
*broke ground on our new home!!
*sent my oldest child to kindergarten
*sent my youngest girls to "3" school.
*sat with brian during a church service for the first time since '02. (usually the girls lose their mind and one of us stays in children's church.)
*went to florida/disney for a week!
*anna turned 5, the girls turned 3, brian turned 29 and i turned the big 2-8.
*anna played soccer. (and scored a goal)
*went camping in ludington for labor day weekend.
*we started '07 on a very fun cruise. ( i would really like to be on a cruise right now)
*hanna came home.
*baby jake was born.
*i grew my first gray hair. (with many to follow, i am sure.)
*had my 10 year high school reunion
*celebrated my 9th anniversary.
*met some great new friends.
*had "big fun" with my old (not age-wise) friends.
*started this blog.
*traveled the globe.
*saved 4 lives
*discovered a way to keep my girls from fighting
*won a mother of the year award.
*ran in 3 marathons.

ok...obviously the last ones are my attempt to make '07 look a bit more exciting. i guess that a quiet year is a good one. so far '08 promises to be full of birthdays and babies and big fun. some days are long, but the years fly by......

hellooo elastic waist!!

seriously...denim is a horrid fabric. even the stretch denim is no longer a friend of mine. earlier in the week i had to suffer through a conversation with 2 of my small framed friends; listening to them go on about how they can't buy stretchy jeans b/c they just fall right off after wearing them for a couple of hours. excuse me!! since the birth of my first, almost 10 lb. child...i cannot say i have had that problem. things shift during pregnancy, and in my case, never return to their place of origin. the give offered by stretch denim has kept me a part of the jean wearing world. i am no longer welcomed in that world. over the last month i have noticed that none of my jeans fit. some are so far from fitting, that i wondered if they ever fit or if it was just a dream. instead of backing off from the costco cake and delicious fountain coca-cola, i decided to buy a new pair of jeans. i humbled myself and went past the size i used to sport and headed to the back of the rack. (they shove that size to the back b/c it is always cuter in the size 0.) i find a pair that look like i could cram 2 of my husband in to them, and i think to myself "these will be way too big...see it is not so bad." not so much. as if jean trying on is not hard enough...is it really necessary that everything from the thighs up gets pulled upward in a jelloish motion? it does not feel good when you need to shove random areas of stretched out skin back into the jeans and do squats to try to get your thighs back in place. the only problem i have with stretchy jeans falling down is when the upper quadrant of my now disfigured backside rides up above the waistline of the jeans....there is no stopping gravity at that point. i have pleaded my case to brian, begging for some repair surgery....trying to remind him that since he has to look at me...it is really for his benefit. no deal. i have considered calling around to see if there are any doctors that need practice in this area..i would be a willing experiment. but for now, i have dug out the overly large gray sweat pants that i wore when i had three children in my uterus. apparently, my skin misses them and stays saggy in their honor. yesterday i picked them up from preschool and they had each made a valentine. my percentage of the class comes running up to me to show me their valentines inside of beautiful pink enevelopes. my soul says "this is why your body is a mess!! how worth it for 3 little valentines." swelling with pride i look at the envelopes, only to see that not 1 is addressed to me. how rude. well, when i come to their school events in my mom jeans and they look humiliated. i will remind them (while busting out old cheerleading moves) that it wasn't always like this. there was a day that i could slide into "front of the rack" size jeans without effort or body part misplacement. these mom jeans are for them!!!