Maggie. Little Miss Margaret Theresa. Today is her day since her birthday is March 13, 2001. And I will cheat and post the same thing on both blogs today, rather than waiting a day and doing it anyway! :)
What can I say about Maggie? She is a bright little girl. And while it takes her awhile to warm up to something, once she is in, she is all in. She is committed and determined. She is also hysterically funny. That girl can make me laugh! She gets sarcasm, which is a good thing in this house! And I very clearly remember when she began to show her own sarcastic side. Sometimes she says things that make me laugh so hard I can't breathe. I love laughing. So does she!
Maggie is stubborn. She can be a challenge. But she is also helpful in the home and has always taken good care of her younger siblings, especially Scoty. She is like a little mother.
Maggie is a packrat, much like yours truly. I find myself going crazy because I find the strangest things shoved into corners in her bed or at the bottom of her backpack. She keeps her bed so full of stuff I'm not sure how she sleeps. But she does, so until it's time to strip the bed down to wash the sheets, I just let her live in her mess. As long as she keeps it all confined to her own space. Maggie is musically gifted and excels in school. She enjoys learning, love to read, and makes me proud with how she conducts herself in public. She is a teacher favorite and the friend of many. She is also not afraid to stand up for herself. Maggie is strong.
She's a good mix of my and Scot's personalities. Though I fear she picked up my more negative traits! :) I see her Daddy in her, and that's a good thing.
That my kids are happy, friendly kids. I never take that for granted, especially when given the opportunity to interact with other children. My kids love people! They love visitors! They enjoy sitting and talking, and are quite good conversationalists.
We had the wonderful experience of having a good from our past show up here for a few days! We haven't seen him in 10 years, so that means the last time we saw him we didn't have any kids. We have definitely added some excitement to our lives! since then. But A enjoys kids and our kids took to him immediately.
I love that my kids can socialize so well. And that they are so loving and kind...and FUN! I've got some pretty great kids! :)
Veterans. I want to express sincere gratitude to every person who has served or is serving with the US military. And I also want to express my appreciation to the families who are left behind. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for your service. From the very bottom of my heart...
Is this cheating? I loved my post from yesterday on my other blog and thought I'd share it here too! Because many of you, my faithful readers, know GK and all of her antics. So...even though this post was from yesterday...today, I am still thankful for...
Georgia Kate! A friend is writing about each of her children on the date of their birth this month. I thought it was a great idea, so I'm stealing it! Thanks, Joanie! :) Today is Georgia Kate's day!
What can I say about this little girl? She is excitable, full of life and love, enthusiastic, happy, and a ray of sunshine. She is also difficult, stubborn, strong-willed, trying, obstinate, and loud. Oi. She's loud. :) She is a bundle of endless energy, one day doing no wrong and one day managing to get herself into a whole lot of trouble. Who can forget the day she locked herself in our bedroom? Or the day she ate a few moldy pickles after being told not too. She has written on the walls in every medium imaginable, has gotten gum in her hair (and Maggie's hair!), colored on both of our tables, dumped pencil shavings all over the house, dumped cat food into the water dish too many times to count. She has convinced Scoty she put one of his toys in the toilet, only to reveal, after much persuading, that the toy was safely tucked up inside her shirt. She emptied 2 bean bags in the kids' room, causing teeny-tiny little styrofoam beads to snow all over the bedroom. She has climbed on top of the microwave cart, pulled things off the walls, climbed on top of the counters to help herself to something she wanted in the cupboards. She has taken more falls than all of the other 3 kids combined! No stitches so far! Georgia Kate is like a tornado some times. People are constantly telling me in Arabic that she has a strong personality. She tires me. I can't keep up with her. But, with her two little hands firmly planted on either of my cheeks, and her earnest declarations of "I love you, Mama!" she can melt my heart.
God's got big plans for Georgia Kate. I can't wait to see where he takes all of her personality!
PUPPY! Puppy joined our lives at Christmas, 2003. He was given as a gift by my Na-na and Papa Joe to Scoty when he was just turning one year old. Puppy was enjoyed at that time, but took on greater significance when our lives were turned upside down!
We left Shamokin for Sacramento for our church's national council where we were being commissioned and sent out. We flew directly from Sacramento to Wheaton, Illinois, where we attended The Summer Language Institute and Wheaton College for a month, incorporating some Alliance specific training in as well. We returned to Shamokin for about one month before it was time for us to leave for Jerusalem. Sometime, while we were at Wheaton, we began to notice that Scoty was carrying Puppy around everywhere we went. Puppy gave him a sense of normalcy and security. Every picture we sent home from our first few months in Jerusalem, someone commented that Scoty was clutching Puppy.
It's been 5 years, and Puppy has lost much of his original luster. He has no stuffing left anywhere except his head. He's traveled the world, though he's relegated to the bed more and more these days.
Puppy went missing this week. Scoty didn't cry, but he was upset. Today we tore the house apart, determined to find Puppy. Scot found him! Scoty and Puppy were reunited once again.
I have to admit, I was feeling sad at the thought of the Puppy era coming to such an abrupt end. He's been Scoty's friend for 5 years now. I'm so thankful that friendship can continue, at least until Scoty decides it's over...
Coffee. I love coffee. It's fun to drink in the morning with Scot, or out with friends. I love all kinds of coffee: iced coffee, espresso, cappuccino, steaming hot, a-fukh (Hebrew for upside down, heavy on the milk), flavored, specialty drinks...pretty much, if it's got coffee in it's name, I'll love it! Ooooh...coffee ice cream! YUM!
Coffee, for me, isn't just a drink, it's a social event. I know many who enjoy their morning cup of coffee in isolation. That is so not me. Drinking coffee alone isn't fun at all. I'd much rather sit together with Scot in the morning, taking 15 minutes to just sip a cup of coffee together. I would never go and sit at a coffee bar by myself, but give me a group of girlfriends and I am all over that! In our last apartment, when selecting the color for the living room, we settled on 2 tones of brown. And after painting the walls we realized we had a problem. A coffee addiction! The walls looked just a like a cappuccino! :)
Scot is the primary coffee maker. We're still drinking iced coffee in the mornings which requires some forsight. I fill up ice cube trays in the evening. Scot starts the coffee in the bodum press before anything else so the coffee has time to chill in the freezer. When we switch over to hot coffee, Scot will resume his expert cappuccino making skills.
Yep, love me some yummy coffee! Dark roast preferable, but I can enjoy milder roasts. Starbucks Christmas Blend is my favorite coffee in the world. And I'll be in the US in time to buy some of my own...I hope! :)
Scrapshare. A message board. Yep. Why? Scrapshare entered my life in January 2006 as a place to find scrapbooking ideas. I had no one to scrap with. It was lonely. So, I joined Scrapshare hoping to find some new and different scrapbooking ideas. I found so much more!
I found a group of (mostly) women with lots in common with me, a group of women who would come to support what I do and challenge me in lots of areas of my life. And though I have only met one of them in real life (Hi, Carol!), I consider many of them my friends. And when I am stateside, I hope to meet as many of them as possible! They have made donations to my scrapbooking ministry, sent gifts to me and my family, dropped encouraging notes, and have blessed me in so many ways....
Joanie blogged about Scrapshare yesterday. She is currently at a Scrapshare retreat...a retreat that I had dreamed of going to. The funny thing? I'm thankful for her! :)
My Mom. She has been such a support to me my entire life. She was the mom that was always there to do carpooling and spontaneous trips. She was the driver for many a Monkee adventure, even though she couldn't stand them. :) She serves without question, both her family and her friends and church. And I love how much she loves her grandchildren with all her heart. She came to live with us for 3 months in 2005, and those 3 months meant so much to me and my family! She was able to be close by for the birth of all 4 of her grandchildren!
Through this last year, which has not been an easy one for her to weather, I have seen her stand strong and firm. I have seen her better herself and show a strength of character and faith that I hadn't previously seen. My Mom is strong. And she is good, kind, loving, giving, and FUN! I know, without a doubt, that when I spend time with her we will laugh so hard it hurts! Usually we laugh about something ridiculous or nothing at all. Add my sister and my BFF, Mara, and you are guaranteed to get some good cardio in with a long-lasting, uncontrollable belly laugh.
My mom is one of my best friends. I thank God for blessing me with such a wonderful example. Love you, Mom!
The Disney trip I am planning for my family. I'm sure some of you must think this is a silly thing to be thankful for, but it's such a fun blessing for our family that I can't help but be excited! My mom mentioned sometime before we left the US 4 years ago, in passing, that maybe she'd take the kids to Disney when we came back. Maggie never forgot (actually Maggie forgets nothing!). Maggie mentioned it, Mom was still willing, and thus the fun began! And she's coming along for the ride, which is going to make the trip even better! And no, not just because we'll have an extra pair of adult hands to help out with 4 kids, though that's a bonus! :) I'm thrilled that Mom will get to experience this with the kids and that they will have Mo-mo with them to share in the magic that is Disney.
I love planning for things like this, and it's been such a blast to see the kids getting so excited about it! We've watched that free planning dvd Disney sends out about a billion times! I check out discount boards and Disney information boards. To some it sounds tedious and even insane, but for me? A planner's heaven!
Disney has been something I've been able to focus on when life was stressful. It's something happy on the horizon, no matter how rough things may seem. And it's something I never dreamed would happen for our family.
I am so grateful for the little extra blessing of being able to say to the kids, "We're going to Disney!" Without my Mom, this trip wouldn't be happening. Thanks, Mom. I know we're going to have a blast! The Mouse is just 64 days away!
Jesus. My savior. I love to reflect on the many names the Bible gives to Jesus. I can't imagine my life without Him at the center. He gives me purpose. He gives me direction. I am certain of my salvation. I am no different than the next person, yet I find myself living in a different land with the sole purpose of showing people the love of Jesus. Why? Because He has called me to be here. This is not an attempt to preach at you, my blog readers. It is simply me expressing my gratitude for all that Jesus has done in my life. I hope and pray that His love pours out of my life, touching all those I meet with His love and compassion.
I'd Rather Have Jesus than anything...
This song has always been one of my favorites. It expresses my heart. I found Michael English performing it on YouTube. The lyrics follow.
I’d Rather Have Jesus – The Lyrics I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold; I’d rather be His than have riches untold; I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands, I’d rather be led by His nail pierced hand.
Than to be a king of a vast domain Or be held in sin’s dread sway, I’d rather have Jesus than anything This world affords today.
I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause; I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause; I’d rather have Jesus than world-wide fame, I’d rather be true to His holy name.
He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom; He’s sweeter than honey from out of the comb; He’s all that my hungering spirit needs, I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead.
Maggie. Little Miss Margaret Theresa. Today is her day since her birthday is March 13, 2001. And I will cheat and post the same thing on both blogs today, rather than waiting a day and doing it anyway! :)
this house! And I very clearly remember when she began to show her own sarcastic side. Sometimes she says things that make me laugh so hard I can't breathe. I love laughing. So does she!
orn. She can be a challenge. But she is also helpful in the home and has always taken good care of her younger siblings, especially Scoty. She is like a little mother.
her bed or at the bottom of her backpack. She keeps her bed so full of stuff I'm not sure how she sleeps. But she does, so until it's time to strip the bed down to wash the sheets, I just let her live in her mess. As long as she keeps it all confined to her own space.
