so much goodness

there is a list that continues to grow, but i must say if i were to rank small gifts i am thankful for, having 22 hours of alone time with adam would be way up there. my generous parents came to love on the munchkins while adam and i escaped to a nearby town for 1 day and 1 night. it was the first time i have ever been away from the kids (except for when i was on bedrest in the hospital with graham). what a treat to have 3 meals without interruption, to walk and hold hands, to talk and talk and talk, to sleep for 10 (!!!!) hours in a row. such a blessing. our camera died by the end of the morning, but we caught a few shots. though i really missed the kiddos, i found it a little challenging to settle back into the regular routine. i'm so thankful for grace for that too.













of course my parents like to help out with projects when they come. here are the little people trying to help adam and dad out with the drain.


*"your steadfast love is good"
*fresh, new baby teeth
*warm house
*electricity
* down bedding
*sloppy toddler kisses
*warmer afternoons
*spare keys
*kind neighbors
*pot roast
*haircuts
*toddler learning obedience
*the pudgiest hands
*old friends walking with Jesus
*new friend encouragement
* spring-like weather in January
*toes thawed
*8 hrs sleep!
* faithful father
*hardworking husband
*knees that can run
*knees that can kneel
*everything we need "for life and Godliness"
*hearing the word preached mid-week
*husband getting good sleep during the day despite cheerful, noisy children
*family-time weekend
*missionaries/dear friends
*tottery independent steps
*toddler knees
*finding joy in the mundane because of Jesus and His joyful work
*warm air before the storm
*being "made in His image" and my neighbors being so too
*time alone with husband
*generous parents to care lovingly for children
*husband working with his hands

one project down

and about a gazillion left to go. that's home-ownership for you. we are not complaining, but are so thankful for the house we can call our shelter for now. remember our quandry? we finally decided to paint the living room thunderstorm which ended up being a neutral grayish, greenish color that we are very pleased with. we have A LOT of colors in our house (red, green, yellow, orange, blue) so a neutral works in there.
before:

during:

after:


i went to lowes 4 times in one weekend as we kept running out of primer and paint. my very generous husband sacrificed 12ish hours of his precious time to carefully paint our 12ft walls. BIG PROJECT. we were going to paint the wall around the window sweet annie green, but it seemed too armyish when we got down to it. nicole helped us decide to do it dutch blue instead as we have that elsewhere in our house. i think it turned out more restful than the green would have.

marit cheered us on with comments like:"you paint that wall!" "Be careful!" "don't make a mess!" and you see that blanket on the back of the couch. it is the one thing that ties all our rainbow colors together




.

15 month stats

this handsome fellow:
*is 24 lbs (50th percentile), just 2 lbs shy of marit
*is 32 inches (75th percentile)
*still has a head in the 95th, just like marit's monster head.
*barely cried when he got his shots!
*has 5.5 teeth
*and is walking about 50% of the time. he has been able to for quite some time, but seems slow about transitioning completely over. maybe he is afraid of change...

wacky cake

this recipe was in some heart-health cookbook my mom had (or was it the newspaper mom?). high cholesterol runs in my moms family even though you have never seen a healthier eater than mi madre. it is all just hereditary in her case. anyway, we grew up eating this fabulous cake that is virtually saturated fat and cholesterol free. the only problem with it is that because it is not as rich as most chocolate cakes, it is easier to just keep eating and eating and eating. the other great thing about it is that you don't even need a mixing bowl. how about it?!

i usually double it and put it in a 9x13
Wacky Cake
* 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1 cup sugar
* 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 teaspoon vinegar
* 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 cup cold water

Preparation:
In a cake pan (8x8 for single, 9x13 for double), mix flour, sugar, cocoa, soda and salt. Make three wells in the flour mixture. In one put vanilla; in another the vinegar, and in the third the oil. Pour the cold water over the mixture and stir until moistened. Bake at 350°F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it springs back when touched lightly. once removed from the oven i usually put whatever chocolate i have on hand on top to melt for a light frosting (though you don't necessarily need it)

and it looks pretty with nuts on top as well.


we shared this with some sweet friends who were also husband/daddyless for the evening

from the archives

*found this while watching old videos with marit
*this is what my family does when we get together...thanksgiving 2007...we were trying to get marit to smile, but she did not crack one the entire song...such a serious baby!
*this is the week before marit was diagnosed with hip dysplasia
*if you are viewing this from facebook and want to see the video, you have to click "view original item" and go to my blog

marit sat here for more than 30 minutes the other day, which is a long time for a 2 yr old to do anything. when i asked her what she was doing she said: "sitting outside the door.

pig is sleeping."


of course. remember when she was having so much trouble sleeping? she is way past that for now. i never really shared about how it resolved. we prayed more for discernment-manipulation or real fear? though we were initially so frustrated that our entire afternoon naptime and evening time was spent comforting marit, eventually God gave us a sweet grace to enjoy the season. i realized, that i was putting too much pressure on myself and my two year old. sure, maybe she was manipulating us sometimes, but i would rather err on the side of grace. she is two; she does not have to be completely independent in every way just yet. it is ok if she needs me to comfort her-that is why God has given me this gift of being a mother to this sweet child. so we started leaving her door cracked just a little, we put a chair (our comfortable double papazan-so we could sit together and talk if adam was home) outside her door. we would read or talk until she fell asleep. when else would i have found time to read books? we know our dear daughter, though sweet as pie, is shot through with sin like the rest of us. BUT i would so much rather her say :"i wasn't always afraid, but my parents offered me comfort and support anyway" than "i was terrified and they abandoned me." she has moved past that phase for now and no longer needs to see us 'sit outside the door,' but she still remembers it, mentions it often and does that for her pig:).

month day

now that marit and graham are over two and one, i probably don't need to blog about every month day. however, today is a very significant one. graham is exactly 15 months old, which is exactly how old marit was when he was born.

i cannot even begin to describe how much i love and am thankful for my dear children. BUT when i think back to the few months after graham was born when marit (like graham now) did not walk or follow commands besides "no" and still needed to be fed a lot of the time, i just remember it being crazy. God's grace sustained us through a difficult transition (you know, meningitis, stomach viruses, bedrest etc) and the little munchkins have come so far! marit has progressed so far with her hip dysplasia, she communicates very proficiently, she even says "thank you" spontaneously sometimes. graham is so close to walking and being a little toddler. he got his first bloody nose today when he fell over and face-planted. he loves his big sister and pax and cheerios. what a blessing these little people are! how much they teach me about God's Father care and loving discipline.