i walked for her

saturday morning, i set my alarm for 6:30 am...which was earlier than it's been set in a long time.  i had the honor and privelage to, not only walk in the buddy walk...but photograph it for a team of 70 people who where all their to support a little girl named, scarlett.

scarlett changed my heart when she was only 24 hours old.  chad and i entered a quiet, dimly lit hospital room that housed a sleeping baby girl and her mother and father.

that is when, with a swaddled...sleeping baby in my arms, God began whispering and slowly opening my heart to the idea of being a mother to a baby girl with down syndrome.

the medical profession and the majority of the world may view a child being born with down syndrome as unfortunate and  feel sorry for their families for having to be dealt that hand...but i'm here to tell you that this is not the way that Jesus, their maker, feels about these children.  my heart sang...this is His child, who is wonderfully made!*  this is a day to celebrate the blessing of this life!  He has placed her in this world and in this family and He has plans and a purpose for her...plans to give her a future and a hope.**

i can't wait to tell this little girl, someday, that she is who God chose to bring me to the realization that we were to adopt a baby girl with down syndrome.

but until then...i will be content to take pictures of her, and the people who love and support her.

her little brother's feet walked for his sister

this day was emotional for me for several reasons.  it was amazing to see over 7,000 people come together to show support and build community.  it was incredible to see these children celebrated like they deserve to be celebrated every day.  it was heart warming to see the love among friends and family.  but most of all...i thought about a baby girl in an orphanage in ukraine...who may be ours.  i imagined her laying in her crib...waiting.  waiting to be loved.  waiting to be appreciated.  waiting to have a family. 

waiting to be celebrated.

i walked for her.

*  Psalms 139:13-16  For you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

**  Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

hop on board

yesterday, chad broke down and told me to just go ahead and take the cat to get it's immunizations.

the poor thing had tape worms and when i went to tell the owners...they said that they didn't care and that they didn't want him.  he lives in our yard and sleeps in the garage.  he has basically decided that we are his.

so...

i did what any animal lover would do and got him taken care of at the animal alliance.  those people are a non profit organization and fixed him right up.

 today, i gave him a good bath and that's when he ended up right back where he belongs.

****

tonight, we started something that i pray lasts.  last night, we ended the evening with a family meeting.  we sat in, what we call the lodge room, surrounded by the warmth and sights of the season...a season that is meant to celebrate our Savior's birth and life, but also a season that brings love, joy, generosity, hope, and closeness to family and friends.  it has come to my attention that when i make happy announcements, like..."we are going to get the tree tonight!!!!"...it is all too often met with a humdrum attitude of boredom.  i notice this more in chad and the boys than i do the girls...and i had to ask myself, "why?  what is happening here?" 

when i was little, i waited all year for that announcement.  i could not wait until mom, dad, kevin and i loaded into the car and headed out to builder's square to pick out the perfect christmas tree.  in the car, we would discuss the details.  do we want flocked or green?  do we want fluffy or thin?  and i can assure you...that every year...i argued for the tallest, fluffiest, flocked-ess tree there was.  shouldn't the kids be the same way?

maybe i shouldn't expect my children to get excited about all the same things that we did back then.  but still...i just know something isn't right.

i thought about it a lot over the last couple of days and came to a decision.  it was time for a meeting.

i told my family that i was sad.  i was sad because i saw where we were headed.  the reason no one seemed to be satisfied with things like christmas tree selection or christmas light magic anymore is because they are bored with anything that doesn't involve a screen.  if it isn't tv, video games, the computer, the phone, or the ipad...it's boring.  and boredom is not where this problem was going to end.  i saw these relationship stealers for what they really were.  they were slowly going to intrude in such a way that we no longer want to (or even know how to) sit in the family room, around the christmas tree, and talk to each other.  we would not remember how to listen anymore.  we would not know how to communicate with one another anymore.  and we would be...bored with each other.  these screens were also very sneaky...and very good at making you frustrated and impatient when you don't have them.  it began reminding me of other addictions, and understanding that just because something wasn't an "obvious" addiction didn't mean that it was any less dangerous.  you see...the thing about sneaky addictions is that they slowly make you become angry, impatient, and irritated when you don't have them.  you become angry at the things that are getting in the way of their fulfillment.  and in this case...we were getting angry and impatient with each other (or tree decorating)  for taking us away from our addiction.

after i finished my quiet, heart felt plea...chad spoke up.

he said, "from now on...all screens are to be turned off from 5:00 until 8:00."  for the kids...that is bedtime.

no tv.  no video games.  no phones.  no ipad.  no computer.

our first night was tonight.

at 5:00, we turned everything off.

i saw a difference immediately.  i plead with you to understand the tangible and automatic difference in the countenance of my family when there was no addiction holding us in it's grip.

at dinner, we talked and we laughed and we opened the advent door for the 3rd day of december.

chase read the red slip of paper...

bake cookies and watch the polar express as a family.

we baked the cookies, popped the popcorn and celebrated annslee's first viewing of one of our favorite christmas movies.

no one complained...

no one was looking at their ds...

no one wanted to be in another room...doing something else...

and no one was on their phone or computer or ipad.

it was a great night of family.

none of us wanted to be anywhere but where we were...or with anyone other than each other.

****

so, here's the deal.  my family is calling this the "screen-free challenge."

we are invited you and your family to participate with us.

we would love to know who else is on board with us...so post a comment and we will cheer you on!

i will continue to post about our advent adventures, as well.

i've sorta stacked the advent house so that our nightly activities fall where i want them to.  like, tomorrow night is making a homemade christmas card for the person of your choice.  we will get out the paper, crayons, markers, and glitter...surround the kitchen table...and listen to christmas music as we spread a little love.  the skies the limit...so break out the address book and stamps!

shhhhhhhhhhh...

don't tell.

now...hop on board.

happy birthday hissy fit

my girl's got manners.  she has this way about her...that just screams polyanna or anne of green gables.  sometimes she talks like she stepped right out of yesteryear.  and i say yesteryear...because i really have no idea what time period anne of green gables was set in.  but...nevertheless...her old school politeness makes my heart smile.

just now, i asked the girls if they were ready for lunch. (more on why aiden is home from school today, later.)  annslee nodded yes.  so, i started getting out the left overs from last night and informed them that i was going to heat up some mashed potatoes.

aiden quietly said, "i'm not felling that hungry right now.  i feel more thirsty than hungry."

i said, "would you like for me to get you a drink?  maybe some milk?"

she sweetly and modestly replied, "i would love some milk.  thank you."

this is not the way chad and i talk.  we are not even close to "proper."  and i can assure you that the boys and annslee have not taught her this.  so i must assume...

she is a self taught lady.

****

after an ER bill, a dog surgery bill, and an orthopedic bill...we had to resort to home cooked meals, crayon colored cards, and song and dance numbers set to the music of the 1st grade choir program for chad's birthday celebration.

annslee and i escaped to the store yesterday morning to get the ingredients for his "chipped beef and mashed potatoes" birthday dinner and "made from scratch" strawberry shortcake.  that trip went surprisingly well...so i decided to stop on over at tj maxx to try and locate the souffle pan that target didn't have.  i thought, "i don't need the stroller...i'm just running in real fast...i'll carry her...she will be fine."

mistake.

as soon as that child saw the purse section...she started flailing around, pointing, and acting like a raging lunatic until i let her go take a gander.  now...i love a good purse as well as the next person, but we just didn't have time.

luckily she spotted a juicy couture purse that was about as big as she was right off the bat.  so, i did what any mother who wants to avoid a knock-down-drag-out-tantrum in the middle of the store would do.  i let her carry it around on her shoulder while we shopped.

i had hung my keys in the pocket of my jeans...so that i would have easy access to them when we left.  (let's face it...they could easily be snatched up by the little elves that live in my huge purse that sneakily move things around as i'm digging for them.)

so...now we are good.

annslee has her purse.

i have a non-screaming child.

and everybody can carry on.

they didn't have a souffle pan...so i ended up leaving that place with nothing.

as we got to the car...i reached down to get my keys from my pocket and they were gone.  i dug through my purse...cursing the purse elves.  and then i asked annlsee where my keys were.  (rhetorically, of course.)  that's when i remembered her trying like nobody's business to show me the paper stuffing in the purse while we were in the junior's jean section.  (it's absolutely none of your business why we were there when all i needed was a souffle pan...and how rude of you to question me, anyways.)  i just kept nodding and saying, "yeah...i see the paper in there."

i said, "annslee.  did you take mommy's keys?"

she nodded, "yes."

"are they in the store?"

she nods again.

"do you know where you put them?"

yes.

"show mommy."

we walk back in the store and that girl waddles straight to her friend, the purse, and digs out all of the paper stuffing.  she smiles and points and proudly says, "eeeeeeeeeys."

sure enough...there those suckers were...in the bottom of the juicy.  to her defense...she had been trying to tell me all along.

and chad wonders why, when he is home, i want to leave her at home with him if i need to run a quick errand.  there ain't nothin quick when she's involved.

****

i put that experience behind me and got to work on the meal as soon as we got home.

by the time the potatoes were on the stove...the keys were a distant memory.

i wanted chad to come in to a peaceful home, filled with the smell of a home cooked meal, welcomed by children who's homework was done, and flickering candles.  i wanted him to set his briefcase down at the door, notice the clean house, and let the hugs from the kids melt his day away.  i wanted the celebration to start.

sadly...annslee broke a glass all over the kitchen floor seconds before he walked in.

just pay no attention to that.

only this.

and this.

and your pre-dinner entertainment.

they can sing...

aaaaaannnnnd dance.

after dinner, i put chad on bath duty so that i could clean up the kitchen.

mistake.

aiden comes out, wrapped in a towel ,with a dripping cast.

chad said, "she didn't get it that wet...and i shot the hair drier in there and dried it out."

ummmmmm...

then why is it dripping?

after about a half hour of this...

we realized that it wasn't gonna dry.

so...first thing this morning, we called up the doctor and they rushed us in while informing me that i should have taken her to the emergency room to have them remove the cast last night because it is essentially killing her skin and that they needed to get it off of her right now.

oh.

of course.

mother of the year award goes to "this guy." (pointing to self)

we were in such a rush that i had to take sister friend with us.

mistake.

so...that's why she is home today.

****

this has pretty much been  aj...

all day.

her shirt is just so appropriate.

"i feel a hissy fit coming on."

and poor trout.

he resorts to hiding under one of the trees to escape.

i know.  cause i found him eating it.

****

ok.  i will leave you now.  i have some coloring to do with my girl.