Jenna quote

In the car Jenna said, "Mom, I can't believe how small Zacheus was! On my new Bible CD it says, 'Zacheus had to take a FLYING LEAF to get up into his chair!" A flying leaf? Oh, a flying leap! Her version of the story makes Zacheus very very small!

Encouraged

Sometimes in the midst of parenting, I loose my focus. I forget my purpose. I get discouraged. I just survive. But in the low times, I fall to God for help and for wisdom and for patience. Praise God who gives these to us freely! The Lord encouraged me and guided me this morning through a wonderful woman named Joy. She spoke at Mom to Mom (a great ministry at Good Shepherd Community Church - if you are a young mom needing encouragement, you should consider checking it out!) this morning and my heart was encouraged, my burden was lightened, my focus was made clear once again. I am so thankful that God takes good care of my heart and my soul. I am back on track, running the race full speed ahead. I LOVE the high calling of following God as a wife and mom!

quote, elsie's vocab, and pics

Just wanted to write down a few things so I don't forget them!

Elsie has a pretty cute way of talking right now. She doesn't say her "Js" or her "Th" or "Gs" and a few others too. So, here is a glimpse of how she speaks...

"I take-a my bammies off" (I took my pajamas off) (the rest of the sentence should be, 'and now I am standing here naked, but don't worry I put my diaper in the garbage')

"Watch....dis....mama" (this phrase is said with big pauses between each word)

"A boo-boo bunny doh?" (where did the boo-boo bunny go?) "Aah, in da house? it wite der" (is it in the house? It's right there?!)

"da pinedess" a princess
"appo-dase" applesauce
"pinedess you-e-you" (princess ariel)
"de-uh" (jenna)

"two...one...bash...nine...four..." (one, two, three, four, five)


Jenna Quote:
I needed the computer for a moment (Jenna was using it at the time) and so I said, "I'll be done in just a second and then you can play again." And she responded just like this, "Then you will go back to pbs kids dot org slash read?"

One of my favorite things is that Jenna can understand and translate for Elsie. It is so cute and sweet. If I can't figure out what Elsie is saying, I just ask Jenna and 95% of the time she can translate!

Snow White x 2

We had a fun evening getting treats and visiting Eric at work. Both the girls dressed up as Snow White...

Visiting Bob the Builder at work... the girls LOVED it that Eric and I both dressed up

Down town Gresham, Elsie covered in blue sucker

In our neighborhood

My parents came over to spend the evening with us, which was so helpful and fun! It was also really fun to see all the creative costumes come to the door. We gave away tons of candy, and filled our own candy jar to the rim!

His Love

Jenna and I have been doing some home-school pre-school this fall. It is a curriculum that I borrowed from a friend, along with some supplimental material that I find on the internet from sites like this and this. Anyways, yesterday we were learning about the letter D and the word "delight". Our verse was, "God will take great delight in you" from Zepheniah 3. Anyways, I had her go get her blankie, her very very special blankie (the curriculum asked the children to get a special doll, but Jenna cares more for her blankie) and two other blankies from the house. We talked about the differences in the blankets, how some are big and some are small etc etc. Then I asked her which was her favorite. She quickly lunged at her special blankie. I then asked why it was her favorite since it wasn't the most colorful or the biggest or the softest. She said, "Because it is MINE". Exactly. God takes great delight in us because we are His children. My oh my this totally hit home with Jenna. The look on her face was priceless - she truly had a deeper understanding of God's love, and so did I.

To think that God delights in me the way that Jenna delights in her blankie, or the way that I delight in my daughters... well, it's a life changing love.