Petri Dish Perfectionism

Do you have some quirks that are just part of who you are?

I do.

I can be a bit of a perfectionist with life - especially things running in order, my house looking nice, my kids behavior...

So, Andy and I have had a running joke for the past few days....

This past week I was complaining about a messy house, a stinky van and other stains that come with four "ankle biters."

My patient hubby had heard enough and responded, "well, that is LIFE honey. What do you want to do, live in a petri dish?"

It made me laugh.

He is right. LIFE, in all it's wonder and joy, is a bit messy. I want to let go of the frustration I can feel in my "petri dish perfectionism" and enjoy the journey a little more...

...even if it mean living outside of the sterile petri dish :-)

Happy Birthday Hope!

Hope turned 1 in December. It was fun to have my parents over with Andy's family to celebrate her first year of life!

Happy birthday sweetie!

Hope and her daddy. They both have a soft spot for eachother :-)

Opening presents.


Celebrating with the Thomas family on a different night. These are all the birthdays for December and January - Teresa, Hope, Andy and Drew. Fun times!

Caleb-isms

I have a journal for each of our kids and try to write down funny, cute or special things they say, well Mr.Caleb has had a slew of them lately, may I share a few:

One night at dinner Caleb asked to use chopsticks to eat. Andy said okay, but do you know how to use them?

To which Caleb replied, "YEAH dad, I was born in Korea!!"

(Excuse us, we did not realize they use them with baby food :-) )

At Christmas, after we had opened our gifts with my mom and dad, my dad asked Caleb what he wanted to be when he grew up. We thought he would say a farmer since he just gotten a barn or the typical fireman.

Nope.

He said a "paleontologist."

We all said "what" like three times, "what, a politician?"

"No, a paleontologist!"

What's a paleontologist, we asked.

Caleb replied, "they dig for dinosaur bones."

Okay, last one...at Christmas while Andy's family was at our house, Caleb was playing with his little cousin Violet. She was laughing at him and then squealing at him to do more. Finally, he said with authority:

"Violet, I am NOT a toy!"

Sabbath Rest

I just heard a great program on Mid-day Connection about Sabbath Rest . I've heard the concept before, but have always felt a little strangled by it - like you need to have a 4 hour devotion with your family or just sit and be alone (both hard to come by with four kids). There are times when possibly both of these scenarios are appropriate, but consistently just drains my energy.

Mid-day interviewed author Keri Wyatt Kent about her book entitled "Rest." Some take-aways that I appreciated were:

For the author's family, Sabbath Rest begins by sundown on Saturday until sundown on Sunday. During that time, it is all about relationships with their kids, as spouses, with extended family or friends. She turns off their computer and is just available to play, talk and have fun. Many times they have friends or family over for a low-fuss dinner and to enjoy fellowship with one another. In the summer, they enjoy sailing as a family or hiking. Of course, worshipping together with their church family is a big part of Sabbath Rest too.

I feel like I can do that, I would ENJOY doing that! I think it will take intentionality to focus on relationships rather than tasks (I am a bit more oriented toward tasks) but I am excited to give it a try.

Hello bloggers! I have been reading blogs for awhile and have thought of starting one for our family and actually did, but it was so pathetic I never made it live. Well, here is another attempt...

I thought that I would share some Christmas pictures. Like many of you, it is one of my favorite times of the year! This year we celebrated with my family and Andy's parents came out from Colorado for a week and a half so we had a grand time celebrating with his family too!

Our little family Christmas...

Caleb really liked his gift from Haley...

A tradition of sleeping around the Christmas tree...

Christmas with G&G Bauer (unfortunately I did not get any pics with them, but they were there and they hosted a fun Christmas overnight.)

Hope got her first baby doll, she loved to kiss her.

The Army men...

Christmas at A. Elaine's...

Elaine had a foreign exchange student, MiSo from Korea all last year and she came back this year to spend some time with us at Christmas. She taugh me how to make a Korean dish called KimBob. It is so good!

Caleb and Grandma Lehman making a gingerbread house.

Steve & Danae getting cozy...I did not get a good pic with their kids, but they were there and we had a blast with them too!

Violet's first Christmas...