Love Is a Handful of Honey

Our love tanks are pretty full this week as we've welcomed my parents into the fold.  We are all feeling very cozy and warm and together... especially as the wind has picked up and the temperatures plunge.


MG and I cozied up this afternoon before her nap and read a recent book favorite--Love Is a Handful of Honey, by Giles Andreae, a whimsical tale that talks of finding love in the little things.  As we read, I felt God tugging on my heart, reminding me to find love in the little things around our home.  It was as if each page of the story brought about a picture in my mind's eye from a true-life moment.


Love is that warm cozy feeling, A cuddle that tells you you're sweet.
We've been having lots of extra hugs all around between the people we love.

And love is that feeling of laughing out loud when somebody tickles your feet.
MG and J were on the couch yesterday just tickling and giggling.  They are best frienemies, but love each other dearly.  I cherish moments like these.

Love's skipping out in the morning and hoping the day never ends.
Does a 5:45am wake-up count?  The two older boys were practically skipping out of their beds this morning to greet the day.  So full of life and energy and ready to conquer the final day of school!

And love's what you feel when you all get together and go on adventures with friends.
Our Christmas schedule promises such fun.  Tonight we head out to view the lights at the botanical gardens.  Tomorrow is a special birthday dinner out for GG and Mimi.  Sunday we brave Christmastown at Busch Gardens for our annual Christmas Eve-Eve adventure!  We can't wait!

Love is a handful of honey, and love's making friends with the bees.
The boys and I enjoyed their classes' fun "winter parties" yesterday.  It is always so neat to see them in their classrooms and meet their sweet friends.  My heart was warm as we walked home.

Even the flowers are bursting with love when they're dancing about in the breeze.
Thanks to a beautiful day on Wednesday, J, MG, and our friend, Cooper, had a chance to play in the yard and roll down hills while my friend, Christy, and I chatted.  It was lovely and so nice to breathe the fresh air and spend some time with good people in our life.  Thanks C and C!

Love's when you can't stop describing just what you've been doing all day, 
And love is when somebody quietly listens to everything you've got to say.
This is pretty much my life in a nutshell.  My parents are so good to me--they have always listened to my ongoing ramblings.  Mimi listens too.  And don't forget my beloved GG, who is so good to listen to me after a long day of work.  I am blessed. ;)

Love is a great bedtime story that takes you to faraway lands.
The boys, GG, and I have been *loving* reading The Hobbit together lately.  It has been such an adventurous tale that we've all been greatly enjoying.

And love's when you want to show someone you care so you snuggle up close and hold hands. 
I loved seeing my dad hold the baby today and watch as she played with his hands.  They played patty cake (Pappy-style with extra rhythm) and "lean-to-the-left" (an old favorite).  So sweet.

Thanks be to God for all of His Love!
We pass it onto you, dear friends, as you prepare for the holiday...

God bless,

Smiles and Christmas-to-come

We are still here!!  We've endured last week and are happy and well and excited for the holiday to come!

GG wrapped up his big deal mid-week, which allowed him to ease up a bit by week's end.  The little crew and I joined him for lunch out on Thursday and he was home by 6:15 that night!  woo hoo!  For some of you that might seem late, but for us, we've struck gold if we see Daddy anytime before 10pm lately.  We were all really starting to miss him...  Friday was even better.  He came home at 3pm (!!!!) with only one work issue arising while here.  It was like Christmas for me.  We were all so excited, though I think GG was emotionally spent.  These business deals dish out a lot of stress and anxiety and he took the rest of the weekend to recover.

Our tree is now up and beautiful.  We are preparing our hearts for a Savior.  The warm fuzzy jar is almost to the top (6 fuzzies to go).  My parents arrive Thursday and we kick into gear our 2012 Holiday activity extravaganza Friday.  More to come on that!

Sorry no pictures at the moment--Photobucket is just one extra step I don't have right now.  Such a bummer about Blogger!  Still haven't figured out how I'm going to handle that issue.  Anyone come up with a good solution?  I guess those will be good thoughts for 2013...

God bless,

Swampage

I think it's safe to say G-Ville is a little swampy these days.

It's not a bad thing, just busy.  And that's aside from the approaching holiday!  Add Christmas on top and things start to feel really underwater (but fortunately not in a frantic way!)

GG, in all of his new job splendor, has been deluged by some *huge* deals coming down the pipes.  Boy, has that been rough on the poor guy!!  We are all hanging on and trying to ride out the onslaught.  Weekends are our lifesavers and we are hoping this week brings about a resolution to it all.  We will undoubtedly cherish his Christmas time off this year.

On top of all that, God has blessed my little at-home tutoring business in the last week, going from 1 session/week to 5!!  All in a matter of days!!  The coolest part is that I feel the students were Divinely sent to me, one with a very terminally ill father and the other, bipolar.  I will be dabbling in all things wonderfully algebraic and geometric, while getting to pass along love to some needy kids.  Lord, send your Spirit and equip me!  Is it weird to say I find the math energizing??

All is good, though, and we are well.  My additional responsibilities actually help me run our home better and in a more structured fashion...

Tomorrow will be my first ever with 3(!) sessions.  Crazy!  I'll let you know how it goes.

Have a blessed Monday,

Quote of the week:

From M yesterday afternoon (with a look of earnestness on his sweet face):

"Mom, could you please just tell me where you've hidden our Christmas gifts?  I promise I won't look.  I just want to know."

lol  I played dumb.  No way, Jose!

Little does he know, unlike many of you go-getters, most of the gifts are still en route.  We are slowly making progress, but doing so without feeling frantic.  That's just the way I like it!

God bless,

Two Teeth!

Baby G is knocking 'em down and taking names these days.

In the last two weeks she has conquered peas, beans, carrots, and blueberries.  Her body seems to be adjusting well to solids and her digestive tract actually seems happier than it was before.  We are taking our time, going a full 4 days with each new food to make sure she isn't showing sensitivities.  So far, so good.

She has sprouted two teeth!  The first came last Wednesday and the second showed up on Sunday.  Go G!  We are on our way to even more solids with those good choppers.

She is clapping.  It is so darn cute.  She smiles and brings her hands together.  She loves that it makes everyone around her so happy.  We say, "Clap, clap, clap" and she performs! :)

She is sleeping...  Oh, how can I say in words how happy this makes me.  She is going down now between 6:30/7pm and resting until ~5:15am.  I feed her and then she goes back to sleep until ~7:30am.  This is perfect because it allows me to get the big boys out the door for school before she needs my attention again.

I am going to allow her the early morning feeding until 9 mos. and then we might let her CIO a little bit more.  Dr. Marc Weissbluth of Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child (one of my go-to Bibles for my babies) says that after 9mos no child needs to wake to feed.  For all the kids (except our sleeper extraordinaire, MG), at 9 months 1 day they were cut off from the morning feed and had to CIO.  No biggie.  I think T took the longest to settle ~15min.  They were clearly using it for comfort!

One final accomplishment, Baby G is rocking on her knees.  I've only caught her doing this in her bed while trying to go to sleep with her big sleep sack on.  Seems like the sack gives her a little extra friction to allow her the leverage to get on her knees.  My crew has crawled anywhere from 8 to 10 mos, so G will probably follow suit.

Advent is in full swing here in the G household.  We have our outdoor lights, candles, and wreath up.  Our beautiful tree is in place (thanks to GG finding us a gorgeous specimen on Sunday!!)  This coming weekend we are planning to decorate and continue to prepare for our Lord.  Thanks be to God.

God bless,