The year through Emily's eyes

I have a file on my computer where I write down funny things Emily says. Since we are nearing the end of 2009, I thought I would give you a glimpse into her sweet mind the past few months:

July 2009: (Emily running to shut the bathroom door before Bri can get in.) Me: “Why can’t Bri come in?” Emily: “Bri sometimes looks at my poop.”

August 2009: “Mom, why does Daddy always weigh himself?”

August 2009: “I’m going to blow your mind.” (quote from Arrested Development). “Daddy say that all the time!”

August 2009: (We were reading the poem ‘Mum is having a baby, I’m shocked, I’m all at sea. . . ‘) Emily says, “Mom, I want you to have a baby in your tummy.” Then she started talking about how she came out of my “bottom” and how they had to cut me open to get Bri out.

September 2009: “You’re the best mom ever I seen.”

September 2009: After I told Emily and Bri that we needed to pick up their toys, Emily says, “Ok, how about you and Bri clean and I’ll sing the clean-up song.” “Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share. . . “

October 2009: Emily looking at Jer’s Boston Red Sox team pictures, “I want to see where daddy is in there.” (Jer wishes!)

Oct 2009: Talking about flying to Vegas for Christmas . . . “Mommy, will we see Jesus in the clouds?”

October 2009: Emily had the treat bucket for AWANA, and in the bottom was a note that said the quantity for the group was 16 snacks. Emily exclaims, “16 snacks? (all concerned) I can’t do 16 snacks! My tummy (rubbing tummy) gets tired of 16 snacks lately!”

Oct 2009: Emily is playing “driving” and says to Bri, “I go in Molly’s car, it’s better.” Later I said to Emily, “I heard you guys driving, where did you and Molly go?” Emily: “We tried to go to a restaurant but we crashed into a car.”

Dec. 2009: Driving in the car, Emily asks, “That’s where Gabby lives?” (Our cat Gabby passed away earlier this year.) I thought she was pointing towards our old vet’s office, since we were right by there, but then she said, “In the sky?” I said, “Yes, Gabby is in heaven” and then went on to explain that if we loved Jesus we would all be in heaven someday. Then Emily said, “I would like to bring a string for Gabby, Gabby likes when I play string with her.” (I know this sounds so cute and sweet, but Emily hardly even cared about Gabby when she was alive!)

Dec. 2009: Emily: “This is my best dinner ever, mom, thank you!” (she said this 3 nights in a row). After giving her more mashed potatoes, “Thank you mom, I appreciate it!” It was so cute, I was writing it down and then she asks, “Is that your Christmas list, mom?”

Dec. 2009: Em: “There’s a squirrel outside, we have to kill that thing.”
Me: Why do we have to kill it?
Em: I think Bella doesn’t like it.
Me: How are you going to kill it?
Em: With that yellow thing in the kitchen. Come on, I’ll show you! (she gets out the fly swatter)

Dec. 2009: Before leaving for appointments, Jer always asks her, How many life policies am I going to get tonight? She usually says 5! One morning after Jer had an appointment the night before, she comes into our bed and the first thing she asks Jer was, “How many policies did you get last night, daddy?” It was so cute and thoughtful.

What can I say?

Oh my, I don't know what else to say. . .

Am I the only one laughing out loud at the end?

It's the most wonderful time of the year . . .

We have been busy with "Christmas stuff" around here and the girls are loving it. Since the gingerbread house we have made puppy chow, chex mix, divinity, gingerbread men, and white chocolate covered pretzels. Here's a picture of the girls making gingerbread men, and then one of the divinity. Hardly anyone up here has heard of divinity!

The girls have also been enjoying the snow a little. Ok, so "enjoying" means I maybe let them go out once a day for about 5 minutes. Do I go out with them and play? Nope, it's WAY too cold for mom. This is my favorite room, we call it the fireplace room. I think I posted a picture of our stockings last year, but I just love them. They're actually giant mittens, knitted by my mom.
One of these days I'm going to capture the beauty of twinkling lights on a Christmas tree at night. Anyway, here's our tree in the daytime. The girls have actually been pretty good about not messing too much with the ornaments or gifts this year.

Best friends (well, sometimes!)

Here's a few videos I thought you might enjoy:

Think we've been having too much pizza lately?

Anything Emily does, Bri does (as you can see!) It's a good thing Emily is the older sister and Bri is the younger!

Gingerbread House

Emily is not the best sleeper, as you probably know. We have to come up with little incentives for her; sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. For example, if she stays in her own bed all night, she gets a sticker in the morning. After a certain number of stickers she gets something special. When we went to "Build-a-Bear" last month, that was one thing she had earned. Fortunately, she slept great when she stayed with grandpa and grandma a couple weeks ago, but when we got home, it was not good. After 2 awful nights I told her that if she got 3 stickers she could pick something special. She said she wanted to make a gingerbread house. Who knows where she got this idea but it was a great one. She got 3 stickers this week, and so today Jer went to Target and picked up a $10 gingerbread house kit; it was perfect. Great quality, sturdy gingerbread pieces, good frosting, and even included all the candy to decorate! If you need a fun activity for kids I highly recommend it!

Getting in the Christmas spirit

We are definitely getting in the Christmas spirit around here and the girls are loving it. Last Friday we went with my parents in Nebraska to pick out their Christmas tree at the tree farm, and then decorated it. The girls loved that and especially watching my dad's old train that goes around it. Then yesterday we picked out our own tree at Rum River Tree Farm. I love that we have our own little traditions now. We always get a fresh tree at Rum River (we used to cut our own but lately have gotten one pre-cut), then that night we decorate it with "Evie Christmas" playing in the background and with hot apple cider to drink. Each year we pick out a new ornament for each of the girls, which is something my mom always does as well. When we moved out she then gave us our ornaments. Today we got out the rest of the Christmas decorations -- snowmen, stockings, nativity scene, etc.

But first, here are some pictures of our time in Nebraska for Thanksgiving last week.
Here we are in our cornfield:

Getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner:

Mmm, everything was delicious!

One day we took the girls to an indoor play area. They had everything from a foam pit. . .

to a ball pit. . .

to climbing structures with very fast slides. . .

to giant blocks. . .

to giant inflatables. . .
and even a basketball court!

We had a great Thanksgiving and now we are excited for the Christmas season!

When the cat's away, . . .

Dear Emily,

I hear you are having a great time in Nebraska! Grandma said that you haven't even talked about home much -- either you don't miss us at all or you're having way too much fun with grandpa and grandma. However, what you don't realize is that Bri is taking over around here. Here she is moving in on your best friend.

As you can see, Molly didn't fall for it. Molly misses you a lot. Her mom said that she barely wanted to go to gymnastics the other night since you weren't going to be there. And when Molly was over the other day, she said "I really miss Emily" and I thought she was going to cry. She is wondering when you will be back.

Here are some more pictures of Bri so you can see what she's been up to. One day we visited Dr. Cox. Remember him? The guy who first took your tonsils out and then Bri's. He of course checked for bunnies in her ears. He said everything looked good.

Jackson came over and played for a bit yesterday. I know you're not worried about this because he's too young for you. Plus, I think he's more in love with Bri anyway (which you can tell by the picture.)

You will be in for a surprise when you get home because I painted the upstairs bathroom. It's blue! I hope you like it. I also planted some tulip and daffodil bulbs in the backyard, but it will probably be a miracle if they come up. We'll have to wait until spring and see! They are pink, your favorite color.

Bri says to tell you hi, that she misses you and will see you soon.

Love,

Mommy

P.S. Here's a video of you from last week because I know how much you like to sing and like watching videos.

I Don't Want to Raise Successful Children

Some of you might get the Proverbs 31 daily devotionals. They are really great and only take a few minutes to read. Lysa TerKeurst wrote today's devotional and I thought it was really good. It might look a little long here but if you have kids at home, it's worth your time. Here it is:
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"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

I don't want to raise successful children. That's a shocking thing to read, and a shocking thing for a mother to type. So, let me clarify. I used to define success according to my child's report card. Good grades and academic achievement would surely equal a good child with great potential in this world. But then several of my children wound up being average students with average grades. Though we carted them off to tutors and spent many a late night at the kitchen table helping them, they remained average. And I remained concerned and frustrated.

One report card day I found myself facedown in the fibers of my carpet crying and wondering, "Where have I gone wrong as a mom?" I dug into Scriptures. I begged God for wisdom and discernment. I prayed for God's perspective with each of my kids. Finally, one day it dawned on me - what if I simply chose to embrace the natural bent of each of my kids as God's way to protect them and keep them on the path toward His best plans for their lives? What if my A student needs academic success to prepare her for God's plans while my average to below-average student needs to be steered away from a more academic future? What if my sports star kid needs that athletic excellence for his future assignments by God, but my benchwarmer kid is being protected from getting off course by her lack in this area?

And that's when it finally dawned on me. My job isn't to push success for my kids. My job as a parent is to recognize the unique way God created each child and point them to Jesus at every turn along their journey toward adulthood. Yes, I want my kids to learn and thrive and grow up educated, but it's not a flaw in me or them if they don't have straight A report cards and trophy cases full of sports medals.

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" (NIV). I am challenged to ponder these words, "… in the way he should go." Are we training our kids that the "way he should go" is to chase worldly achievement or to chase God? Whatever they learn to chase as a child, they will chase as adults. Therefore, we must be challenged to honestly assess the way we are pointing them to go.

My daughter, Hope, is one of my average students. She has also warmed many a bench in the sports she's tried, and can always be found hiding on the back row of the stage during school concerts. Using the world's benchmarks for achievement, Hope wouldn't be seen as a child positioned for success. But God…

This past January, my 15 year old Hope, shocked me when she announced she wanted to go to Ethiopia with some missionary friends of ours and live in the remote African bush for the summer. Yes, she may not have trophies and straight A report cards but she does have a heart of gold. And because she's not entrenched in sports and academic pursuits that could have created obligations for her summer, she was free to go to Africa. Free to chase God in a really big way.

One of the first e-mails she sent me from Ethiopia read, "Mom, I've fallen in love with the AIDS orphanage children. They rushed at me when I held my arms out and I tried with all my might to hold all 30 of them at once. I love it here."

Now, don't get me wrong. I do expect Hope to return to her studies this fall, give 100% effort, and finish her high school career having done her very best. She will most likely then go to college. But she probably won't be delivering the valedictorian address or wearing the honors cords and medals. She'll be the one with a vision of a dying AIDS orphan pressing against her heart ready to chase God's plans to the ends of the earth.

So back to my original statement, I don't want to raise successful children. It's true, I don't. Though Hope's sister coming behind her is an A student and can always be found on the front row of school performances - we don't chase after success for her either. I trust God that she needs those things in her life for the plans He's unfolding in her life. We train with that bent in mind. But, we don't chase it. Just like Hope, we point her in the direction of God at every turn and pray like crazy.

I stand by what I said and I'll say it again, I don't want to raise successful children. Because--- raising God-honoring adults who will set the world on fire for Christ is just so much more rewarding.

Dear Lord, being a mom is a really tough job. Please help me, teach me and show me how to define success for my kids. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Application Steps: Spend some time specifically praying for your kids today and ask the Lord how you can train them according to the way He created them.

Reflections: What worries about my kids do I need to ask the Lord for His perspective? How should I define success for my kids?

2 John 1:4, "It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us." (NIV)

Matthew 19:14, "Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'" (NIV)