It's Friday!!

I was just chatting with a nice representative from our insurance carrier, biding time until my coworker could come out and meet with her. I got the usual response when our conversation shifted to children and I told her how many children I have.

“But you’re so young!”

“Well, I am 30,” I countered.

“That’s young!”

And she’s right it is. Is it weird that I just don’t think of myself in those terms anymore? Not that I feel old, or ancient, or middle-aged. I just feel like “young” parents are in their early to mid-twenties. Not thirty. Besides, it’s hard to feel young with three children ages five and under; something about being responsible for three young lives will do that to a person.

It was a nice compliment! And gosh-darn-it! I am young!

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My mom, sisters, our friend, Laura, and I went to the midnight showing of New Moon last night. There we sat at the theater, with at least five different screens going and they were still sold out! We were surrounded by (mostly) women of all ages.

It was a good movie! My sisters and I couldn’t decide if it was so good because our expectations were so low (come on, admit it, Twilight wasn’t the greatest!) or if it really was a good movie. I’ve decided on the latter. At least this director was able to get Kristen Stewart to stop bobbling her head while she talked. Some quick thoughts on the movie:

The werewolves – A-MAZING! Seriously, I was blown away but what they can do nowadays. The wolves were so very realistic.

The Volturi – As scary as I’d imagined. And I thought Dakota Fanning did a great job as Jane. I can’t wait for the 4th movie to really see her acting chops in that role.

Vampires – My favorite is still Alice. She is so warm and endearing! Just love her!

Jacob – I will forever be Team Edward, but even in this move I started getting a little attached to him. He’s just so cute.

Favorite Quote: “Yeah, they seem great… can we go now?”

If you’ve read the books, definitely check out the movie! It was 100-times better than Twilight.

And by the way, I am definitely TOO old be going to any more midnight showings. I’ve had to work eight hours on only four hours of sleep. I haven’t done that since before I was pregnant with Devyn!

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If you’d still like to enter the Starbucks gift card giveaway, click on this post and enter by midnight tonight. I have SO enjoyed getting to know some new readers! If I haven’t stopped by your blog to say hi yet, I will this weekend!

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Now I get to finish out the work day, grab a Red Bull, and head to the bowling alley for Devyn’s official birthday party. See? I really don’t think I thought out the whole midnight movie idea, did I?

Oh, so bittersweet!

She turns five today... and despite all her excitement, my heart aches. My baby is five, and such a little girl now. So beautiful, so sensitive, so loving and kind.

Where did my baby go? When did she grow into such a beautiful little girl?

I ache because time marches on... I ache because her world is growing, a world that can, at times, be cruel, and I can no longer shelter her from it... I ache at the thought that she now skims my ribcage, when she used to fit in the crook of my arm... I ache the ache of mothers past, present, and future.

My Devyn Paige. You are such an amazing little girl; I delight in you! You are so very sweet, sensitive, kind, and loving. You make me smile, you make me laugh, and I cherish each passing moment. You, my daughter, are one of the biggest treasures I've ever received! Happy 5th Birthday, my love! May it be a year full of adventures!

1st Birthday, 2nd Birthday, 3rd Birthday, 4th Birthday

Its late, but... (and a giveaway)

Yes, I realize it almost midnight.

Yes, my children have been sleeping for almost four hours now.

And yes, that is my husband sleeping soundly in bed next to me.

But there's a reason they call this a crackberry. And I'll be the first to admit I have a problem at our next support group meeting.

I've been poking around on the internet, checking out Google Reader and Site Meter and some sort of dossier-report thing. Its made me curious... and we all know what curiosity did to the cat.

I see the number of hits I get on my blog, I see the locations of the visits, I visit the websites of people who link to my blog, and I wonder. I wonder who is reading about my life; I wonder why they keep checking in; I wonder if I know them; I wonder if I've ever offended someone, or did I offer encouragement in some way.

And yes, I realize that was a lot of "I" statements. In short, I am completely narcissistic at midnight.

But all kidding aside, I really would like to know more about you. Would you be willing to come out of lurking for a chance at a gift certificate?

Now before anyone gets too excited, its really not anything big. I have a $10 gift certificate to Starbuck's for one lucky reader that responds to this post.

And I'll keep this as simple as possible. No one has to become a follower; you don't need to have a blog; you don't even need a google account. And yes, you can even post anonymously if you'd like. I'd just like to know the following:

Your name
Your location (state or region is fine)
How you found my site
How long you've been reading
Your favorite drink (coffee-related or not)

It's that easy.

I'll close comments at 11:59pm on Friday, November 20th. (Heaven knows I'll be awake, probably even on my crackberry.) And then I'll announce the winner on Monday, the 23rd.

Come now. Doesn't the thought of drinking a Peppermint-Mocha-anything or a Gingerbread Latte while Christmas shopping make you want to participate? I sure hope so...

Image Building

Image seems to be the theme of the week. Everywhere I turn, I’m faced with a new revelation, a new thought regarding images and the images we try to present to the world.

This week in Beth Moore’s Daniel study, we’re learning about the falsehoods and gods we create in trying to maintain our images. I love that she gets so deep, forcing us to ask the hard questions. Is the same person we present to the world, the one we deal with in the dark of night? I try, really I do, but even I know that I fall short of this goal.

As I continued reading in that day’s study, another Beth Moore thought jumped out and convicted me. She said, and I’m paraphrasing here, even those who pride themselves on being real, can learn how to fake being real.

Hmmmm. Yes. I can see how that could be true. And I probably fit into that category as well.

I consider myself real; I try to be real as often as possible. In fact, dare I say it, I may even be prideful when I talk about being real. But have I gotten to that point where I can fake being real? It depends. Yes, I feel as though the person you read about on here is the same person you’ll meet in person. (I hope that’s the case. I pray I’m not portraying myself to be someone I’m not.) However, there are still topics and areas in my life that I won’t discuss on the blog. Finances, marital, and family (both immediate and in-law) issues, anything that has been placed off-limits by my husband and/or family, are just a few examples. In not talking about them, am I portraying my life as perfected in those areas? I hope not. We have just as many issues behind the scenes, but some boundaries can’t be crossed.

Ok, I think I got off-topic there for a moment. Back to image-building. I didn’t have to look very far to find an example of image-building in my own life.

The highly-regarded, highly-anticipated Christmas photo. The photo that says to all our family and friends, look. Look at my beautiful children, my hunky husband, and see how blessed I am. I AM blessed and my children ARE beautiful and I AM so very in-love with my hunky husband; BUT let me assure you that our lives are not so squeaky clean and together as the picture portrays us to be.

Take for instance the morning of our photo-shoot.

I may, or may not have, scolded Devyn for the umpteenth time to “sit still and let me do your hair!” I may, or may not have, told Hudson, “Tough, Kid. I know you hate that outfit, but you’re wearing it!” I may, or may not have, whispered to Jon in angry undertones that it was his fault we were running late. There may have been fighting amongst siblings, a lost bow, and dirty clothes that I forgot to wash for this big day. In short, not one of my brighter moments as Mom and Wife.

And then, when we pulled up to the park and were assembled just right, of course we put on our happy smiles and were loving and affectionate with one another. Just in time to capture the perfect, loving family that we are.

If that’s not an image-building moment, I don’t know what it is.

Don’t get me wrong; I see nothing sinful in wanting the gorgeous picture. We are all proud of our families and want to show them off during this magical time of year. I just wanted to point out a moment that was crystal-clear to me; a moment in which I caught myself giving into the pressure of creating the perfect “image”. And I want more of that clarity! I want to be more aware of those moments when I’m about to step over that line of being real, into creating an image. I want to know that while I can put my best foot forward, that when it comes to the nitty-gritty dirt in my life that I’m not afraid to open up and allow God to use whatever He needs to clean the gunk out. I don’t want to present the façade of who I am, but the real thing.

Making A List...

Do you remember this post? Let see how I’m doing, shall we?

• Create and send out birthday invitations for Devyn’s 5th birthday party. (5 years?! Already?!?) Yep, all done!
• Host said birthday party.
• Sew Hudson’s stocking. Still working on it, but it looks great so far!
• Finish Christine and Courtney’s Christmas blog designs. One down, one to go.
• Put together the details for a Holiday Recipe Exchange we’re doing on “What’s For Dinner”. Another one off the list, have you checked it out yet? We have some new recipes on there too!
• Finish up the details for the holiday specials on Munchkin Land Designs. Just a reminder, 15% off people!
• Celebrate Thanksgiving with Jon’s side of the family.  I have my dish all picked out and I'm ready to cook!!
• Implement a huge project at my other job.
• Get some family candid photos taken for Christmas cards and write our Christmas letter. With much appreciation for Sarah, here’s a sneak preview of our photo shoot. But I'm still working on the letter.
• Send Christmas cards.
• Decorate for the holidays.
• Celebrate the one-year birthdays of our two precious babies, Elliana and Reagan. (I can’t believe it’s been a year already!)
• Celebrate Christmas with my side of the family.
  

I’m getting there. As for the mustard-yellow kitchen, well, truth be told, its growing on me. We’ve decided to leave it alone until after the holidays and will tackle it at that point. (Unless I’ve convinced Jon to leave it alone by then.)

I have some far lengthier, meatier posts that are gnawing at me and begging to be written. Soon, I promise. Until then…

Decking The Halls

If you’re one of those people who refuse to acknowledge Christmas until after Thanksgiving, then you’re going to want to stay away from my blog for a few weeks. Because I couldn’t wait any longer!! I hope ya’ll like the new design. I do…

For whatever reason, I am just so excited for Christmas this year. Courtney and I discussed our over-the-top enthusiasm this year and wonder if we anticipate Christmas so much more this year because last year was one crisis after another. It really felt like we fast-forwarded through the Christmas holiday, without getting a chance to celebrate it. And when you have a mom get admitted to the hospital on Christmas Eve, and you’re opening presents in a hospital room, yeah, doesn’t feel like Christmas. At all.

Regardless of the reasons, I cannot wait for it and I’m starting the Christmas spirit a little early this year.

And there are a number of exciting Christmas goodies happening this year.

1. Random Moms is hosting a Christmas ornament exchange this year. I just absolutely adore this idea! Head on over and read all about it. I’ve already got my name in the proverbial hat.



2. What’s For Dinner is hosting a Holiday Recipe Exchange. So you can head on over there to see how it’s going to work. Start gathering your recipes, ladies, I want to hear all about your favorite Holiday treats.



3. And last, but certainly not least, Munchkin Land Designs is offering 15% off through December 4th.
   

And if you don’t come around for a few weeks, I totally understand. I usually like to wait until the day after Thanksgiving too. But I feel like a little kid this year...

Does it come with diamonds?!

If you’re engaged and have a $198,000 budget, then this deal is for you!!

Sam’s Club and Disney’s FairyTale Weddings is selling a “once-in-a-lifetime” wedding package for you and 50 guests! The first person to wire Disney the $198,000 is the winner of this “once-in-a-lifetime” experience, including a four-day stay in deluxe accommodations for the wedding couple.

But wait… don’t forget…

The purchaser is STILL responsible for all travel and any other associated costs not mentioned, including your wedding apparel!

I was flummoxed when a coworker brought this ad over for me to see and even a half-hour later, I’m still crying from laughing so hard! Oh my.

In a more down-to-earth post, I just had to share this with all of you.

My friend, Melissa, had some girlfriends over to her house last night for a Craft Night. I just LOVE her stuff as you can witness here and here and here.

I made this last night and love it. It now sits on the entryway table and it’s a wonderful reminder of what truly matters! (Especially when $200,000 weddings are involved…)