4 questions

At our New Year's Eve gathering, one of our group activities was to answer the following four questions (in reference to the coming year):

1.  What do you want?
2.  What do you need?
3.  What do you want to share with others?
4.  What do you want to succeed at?


Here were my answers:
1.  To have more quality time with Chad and find ways to have more fun together, breaking the normal routine of life.
2.  To be more consistent, structured, and disciplined in my prayer life.  Still working on getting this figured out.
3.  My time.  I feel like it's hard to share time with two little boys, but yet I feel as though I have time to share, whether in a work sense or in a helping others sense.  Waiting on God to show me his plan.
4.  Something physically challenging.**  I decided to sign up for the Indy mini marathon in May and really, like Really train for it and have a goal finish time, something I've never done (I've ran it, but just "for fun").  But now I'm really wondering what I've gotten myself into and am dreading the training runs... unless it suddenly warms up!


Ok - your turn to answer!


**  Small lie... I actually referenced the clothes fast when I answered this one, but later realized that this is a better answer since I'm confident that we will succeed at the clothes fast. :)

9 months

He's getting heavier and heavier, noisier and noisier, and more and more fun.  Here's an update on little Creighton (or really big Creighton, as we call him "Big C" sometimes):

scrunching his nose and making funny faces
finally getting one of his front two teeth
getting more congested and snotty noses than any baby should be allowed... resulting in a sinus infection (I keep blaming teething, but maybe he's attracted to colds)
clucking his tongue
getting better with feeding himself and trying some new finger foods, like peas, ham & cheese

Beck says

Time to try to remember some of the entertaining things that come out of a 3 year old's mouth....


While shopping the other day, Chad and Beckham got on the conversation of smarts, and Beckham informed us that he had three brains.

Lately, Beckham has been telling us that he's the boss, or that he wants to be the boss.  He also informed Chad that when Chad was a boy and he was a man, he was the boss.  And that when he has boys, he will be the boss.  Oldest kid syndrome?!

While driving on the interstate the other day, we spotted a semi cab without a trailer.  Beckham stated, "look, that semi's naked!"

As our potty-training saga continues, Beckham prefers to do his smelly business in his diaper, after waking up.  He is quick to apologize and say sorry for pooping in his diaper (he's afraid he's going to start getting spanked if he doesn't stop).  After doing this one morning, I was telling him that if he was really sorry, he would try to poop in the potty and not in his diaper.  He responded with "I appreciate that mom."  I think he's going to be good at talking his way out of things.  ;)

When trying to pull out of a parking lot the other day, there was cars coming both ways and we had to wait.  After about 10 seconds, Beck intensely said (with a sort of growl in his voice), "Cars!  Stop coming!  It's my dads turn!"

He's been quite the sweetie lately and I cannot count the number of times a day he says to me, Chad, and Creighton, "I like you,"  "I love you a lot,"  "you're by best friend," or  "we're buddies," usually with an endearing smile and hug to go with it.  He has also starting saying "we're a family" while making a circular motion with his hands when we're all together eating dinner.  It's fun to see the soft & lovable side of him that hasn't shown up this much in the past.  He even declared "I'm a lover boy!"  hehe

He's also been teaching me things lately, like how to put his toys together and where the DVD player is on Chad's laptop.  He's even been know to correct my form while exercising (and be right... if I want to do it super exactly like the people on the video).  He came up to me the other day and said, "most cars have internal combustion engines."  I think we can thank some new leap frog books for that one.

And why not a picture?

matching PJ's for Christmas... perhaps the only Christmas picture I took.   something about too many presents, wrapping paper everywhere, noisy people, and distracted kids isn't an environment that makes me get out my camera - way too much going on!

clothes fast 2014

Fasts are supposed to be private, right?  No one really knows that you are doing them, in an effort not to draw attention to yourself and stay humble.

Well... Chad and I are embarking on a fast that has become public.  Not intentionally, but I guess we didn't mind sharing it with others... not to look good, more just in a factual way.  And maybe fast isn't really the correct word... maybe we could use"freeze."  It's a "spending freeze."  But since some of our friends found out about it, I decided that it was ok to share it here too, in an effort to get as much encouragement and accountability as possible... and to share what I learn along the way.

It was Chad's idea and I quickly agreed to it (knowing I needed it much more than him).  His suggestion was to not purchase any new clothes in 2014.  I knew I could do it and that I wanted to do it.  For several reasons.

To prove for once that I can be strict in this area, when I fail to meet my budget year after year.
To simplify my life.
To get back the time that I spend purchasing, returning, purchasing, returning.
To redefine my needs & my style.  What do I like and wear the most?  What is my closet missing?
To remove emotional ties to shopping and the idol that it can become.
To be able to shop based on needs and not wants and say "no" when I know I don't need it.
To continue to shrink my wardrobe, with the goal of owning quality favorites that I wear often, rather than owning lots of things - some that I like a lot, some that are just ok.
To have a wish list of things that I want and wait to get them as a gift or with gift $, rather than just buying them for myself and feeling guilty I didn't have more patience.
To challenge myself to wear my clothes in new ways when everything feels old.
To be changed.

And really it goes beyond clothes.  Pretty much any nonessential personal purchase, including accessories, shoes... and things of the like.

I will be honest and say that Chad and I took a shopping trip after Christmas to spend some Christmas $ and get a few more things we wanted before our year of fasting began.  I found myself walking through Gap racking my brain for anything I could possibly need the next year and had to remind myself that wasn't the point.

Maybe I'm naive, but I really don't think it will be that hard overall.  I feel more excitement for the challenge than fear for the future.  I like extreme, black and white situations that force a decision.  Browsing Target and debating on the $20 shirt isn't an option.  Decision made.  There's something about telling myself no that feels good.  And a year goes fast, right?

My prayer is that I really am changed by all of this.  That after the end of the year I can look back and feel different.  Not that it won't ever be hard to go into Jcrew and want to buy just about everything, but that in the moment when that happens, I can take a deep breath, get perspective, and do some smart shopping.

I found a quote by Tim Keller that summarized my perspective on doing the fast and taped it to my computer.  It says:
"Jesus must become more beautiful to your imagination, more attractive to your heart, than your idol.  That is what will replace your counterfeit gods.  If you uproot the idol and fail to "plant" the love of Christ in its place, the idol will grow back."

That's what I want to happen in my life.

I will update you on how it's going and what I'm learning, if you care to know.  Happy 2014 and anyone is free to join us if they feel so led. :)