Dear Elijah

*Warning: Sentimental post with accompanying song ahead. When I listened to the words of this Randy Travis song, I was practically bawling... You know me, Elijah, I am a sap!


Dear Elijah,

I have been wanting to tell you something all day, but time got away from me and now you're sound asleep after a grueling basketball practice. I know you read my blog when I'm not looking sometimes, and I hope you read it today.

I read somewhere that one of the best things you can do for your children is to let them overhear you praising them to someone else.

As you know, I have a lot of great blog friends. And right now, I am singing your praises to them, all over the blogosphere.

I know Gabe gets a lot of attention and air-time on my blog. You have to admit, he's a pretty funny kid who says a lot of blog-worthy things. And Isabel just recently had a birthday, so she got her time in the proverbial limelight as well.

Now it's your turn, buddy.

Today, when you were home on a two-hour delay, do you know how you made my heart swell with pride when you deliberately sought out your baby brother to play with you? And again, when Gabe said something funny and you looked over at me so we could share the joke? You have been such a great big brother lately, and it does a mom good to see her kids love each other like that.

You amaze me in so many ways. Your ability to kick my you-know-what on the guitar (on the hardest level) when we play Rock Band. Your athletic abilities in every sport you play (hello, a left-handed Little League pitcher is a hot commodity!). Your knowledge of football that goes beyond even what your dad knows. Your unfailing love and support of me, even when I have sent you to your room in a fit of anger.

Elijah, I love you so much. You were my first, my "experiment". If you see me doing things differently with your younger brother and sister, it's because I have found a better way in my (old) age. Thanks for being such a great kid. I love spending time with you, even if it's just being alone for a few minutes on the way to and from basketball practice somedays.

You are growing up to be an amazing young man, I can see it a little more everyday. I hope you realize just how very much you mean to me.

Now, stop playing that video game and come help me with supper!

(Just kidding.)

Love,

Mom

And the winners are:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

22 11 6
Timestamp: 2009-01-08 05:41:56 UTC



Winner of the first prize, a pack of all-occasion cards:
Commenter #22, Jen from Buried with Children

Winner of the second prize, a pack of valentine cards:
Commenter #11, Lula from Lulaville

Winner of the third prize, my husband:
Commenter #6, Cammie from The House of No Sleep.
Oh, sorry, Joe is too busy with his honey-do list here, so you get a custom-made scrapbook done with photos you email to me.

Girls, please email me your addresses so I can send these out asap. Cammie, if you want, email me your phone number so I can call you and see exactly how you would like your scrapbook.

I am so excited you all wanted to win some of my handmade lovin! Congratulations!

(Queen, I cannot believe that commenting 10 times did not improve your chances. Your luck is clearly as good as mine. You will definitely be getting a consolation prize.)

We're going to see the Mouse...

Did you notice that countdown over there on my sidebar?

The one that says "Days to Disney"?

Yep, we're taking the plunge and going to Disney World. In 55 days, which is forever in poor Gabe's eyes, who was convinced we were leaving the minute we booked the trip. 55 days, which doesn't seem long enough at all to me, the one responsible for all the planning, packing and general organization of the whole darn thing.

Of this I am sure: we're going to see the Mouse, staying on-site for the first time in my life, and we are going to have a great time, come hell or high water!

It would've been even better if I could have met up with Kori and her family on their trip, but they are going a week later than us. What a blog reunion that would've been!

One more thing. The contest for my 300th post is now closed. The names have been drawn. And you have to come back tomorrow to see if you're one of the winners...

How's that for a cliffhanger?

Communion with Gabe (and a giveaway)

Welcome to my (gasp) 300th blog post! For those of you who don't know me in real life, this may be hard to believe. Just ask those who do...I always have something to say, and I rarely refrain from saying it. These people probably aren't surprised at all...

I wasn't sure what to include in this post. I wanted it to be funny, but I also wanted to emphasize those things that make me, well, me. A scrapbooking-ICU nurse-Mommy-wife-sister-friend-blogger-Christian woman. A pretty tall order, I thought.

Then we went to church this past Sunday. We are Methodist, and in the Methodist church, the first Sunday of each month is Holy Communion. Usually we pass the bread around on plates, Pastor Gary blesses the bread, we eat it; ditto for the "wine".

Gabe has only been attending official church since September, after he turned four and proved to the world at large that he had the ability to sit still and remain silent for more than two minutes at a time. That being said, he has only taken communion four times, and each time has been very stressful for me. I tried to explain the meaning of taking communion, but he really wasn't "getting it".

Until now.

Picture this: Gabe, myself, Isabel and Joe are sitting quietly on the pew, towards the front of the church (Elijah is with Papaw a few seats back). The ushers pass the bread plate down our pew, and I take Gabe's bread for him (he tends to be too choosey about his particular piece). Gabe waits for a millisecond before eating the bread (i.e. before Pastor Gary says the "words"). He chews and smiles up at me, knowing he was supposed to wait. I save a piece of my bread for him to eat with the blessing. In the meantime, Gabe is picking at his teeth with his finger. I whisper, "What are you doing?" in a hushed voice, hoping not to attract any unwanted attention.

He answers, in a not-so-hushed-voice, "I'm trying to get this...Jesus is stuck in my teeth!" Just then, he plucks the clump of "Jesus" out of his teeth and swallows it. All around us you hear muffled giggling and snickering.

On to the wine. Or juice; whatever. The purplish fluid representing the blood of Christ. Joe is holding onto Gabe's little thimbleful of juice, so he doesn't drink it before the appointed time. Gabe spies his cup, and loudly whispers "Hey, where's my blood-juice, Dad? I need it!". Joe gives him the cup, hoping to quiet him, at which point Gabe leans over to me and says, "Mom, Jesus isn't in my heart, he's in my stomach!"

Tell me this kid doesn't know the meaning of communion...

I could hardly contain my laughter, and that hysterical moment carried me through the rest of my day. (Thank goodness, 'cause my shift at work totally sucked!)

Here's the sweet thing, saying his bedtime prayer, which has progressed from Dear-Jesus-I-lub-you-amen, to God-is-great-God-is-good-and-we-dank-him-for-our-food-amen.

I love it!

And now for the fun scrapbooking part...

To include y'all in my Post-300-celebration, I am having a giveaway. Now, it's not quite a Sunshine and Lemonade giveaway, but it's the best I've got.

There are three prizes. Leave a comment, and you will be entered in for a chance of one of the three. Become a follower of mine and leave me another comment for another entry (I like being followed, people, c'mon).

I only have a photo of one prize, and here it is:

A set of eight handmade-by-me all-occasion cards (birthday, thank you, congratulations and friend). Made with paper by Basic Grey, and a whole lotta love from me.

Prize two is a handmade scrapbook, in which you can send me your photos and I will scrap them and send you the finished book. It's an 8x8 album, and will be done with this same patterned paper as the cards.

Prize three is my husband.

Just kidding. Although if times get tight, I may rent out his handy-man abilities for some extra cash...

Seriously, the third prize is a set of Valentine notecards, also handmade by moi (and maybe Becky, if she decides to help...hint, hint).

You have until Wednesday at 3pm eastern time to enter, at which point I will attempt the Random Integer thingy to pick three winners. Check back on Thursday to see who won what...

Oh, and thanks for sticking it out with me for 300 posts. Who knew I'd have it in me?

(And that is what she said!)

Almost there...

Posting from work...

Almost at blog post 300...

Stay tuned for a great giveaway...

Blog Bible Study

Following in the footsteps of my friends, Becky and Betty, and my big sister, Michelle, I am going to work on strengthening my spirituality in 2009. I'm hoping to be able to participate in a Beth Moore bible study at our church (if they can get babysitting for Gabe). And starting today, I am going to do a post about a bible verse on the 1st and 15th of each month, working to memorize those verses as I go along. If this strikes a chord in your heart, go check out Betty's post and hop on the bandwagon with us!

I'm starting out with one of my favorite verses, Jeremiah 29:11-13...

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'"

The footnote in my bible explains it like this: "As long as God, who knows the future, provides our agenda and goes with us as we fulfill his mission, we can have boundless hope. This does not mean that we will be spared pain, suffering, or hardship, but that God will see us through to a glorious conclusion." Life Application Study Bible, NIV

It's kind of like when you take your kids on vacation. You know how awesome it's going to be when you get there, and how much fun your kids are gonna have. But they are so concerned with the here and now of the getting there, they have no idea of the great time that awaits them when you finally arrive at your destination. I think of God in that way; He's the parent, and we're the impatient kids in the backseat, whining "Are we there yet?". Man, we are probably so on His nerves by now...

Project 365 (and an update)

For all you scrapbookers out there, I just had to share an awesome idea being promoted by Creating Keepsakes magazine and my favorite scrapper of all time, Becky Higgins. It's called "Project 365", and basically it's a scrapbook about your every day life, encouraging you to take a picture every day of 2009, and put it in this book. Can you imagine how awesome it would be to have a book like this from your grandma, or great-grandma? I love reading my grandma's journal and scrapbook; she's the one who inspired me to start scrapbooking in the first place...

I was really bummed today when all of these kits sold out:

But then I remembered my Hobby Lobby gift card (from Joe, 'cause he loves me like that). And my sweet MIL and I headed out to this favorite craft store of ours and spent (a little) more than the balance on the card. I bought all the supplies needed to make my own Project 365, which suits me just fine, since I wasn't crazy about the colors in this kit.

If you are a scrapper, or thinking about starting your first scrapbook, visit Becky's blog and read about it. It's an easy way to get started, and a great gift for future generations. I can't wait to start putting mine together (tomorrow).

Wow, after reading this, I sound like a freakin' advertisement for CK magazine. I'm not, I swear, I just really love scrapbooking. And I love a new project. And I love Hobby Lobby.

'Nuff said.

(Side note: For all of you who followed me over to MckMama's blog to help pray for Stellan...it looks as if Stellan is doing much better, and may even get to come home tomorrow. Praise God for answered prayers!)