The Blessings.

Aidan's prayer tonight. Thank you Jesus for Santa (he's made the cut every night for a while now not just at Christmas), and all the great stuff, (something else Aidan?) and the blessings you give us.

How precious. Blessings. Do we stop and think of all the blessings we are given? I know I don't enough. I am cranky when the van is in the shop (Monday), when I don't get enough sleep, or just when I feel like life isn't fair(umm, yeah a lot). But, man...I I don't want it to be just thankful at thanksgiving or those cliché times but as a lifestyle. You know those people, that are just joyfully contagious? I want to be that. Not in 20 years from now, but today. Anybody else with me?

The Jeep.

So as many of you know Aidan has been going to speech therapy for a little over a year now. Currently he is loving it but a while back we were having a rough go with him cooperating, behaving, etc. So as an incentive we make a chart for him and every week that he worked hard for Miss Patti he colored in a box. The chart was for a jeep. And the whole time I'm thinking, dang, how are we going to afford one of those jeeps? So I had been watching on Craigs List (online classifieds) and go figure I found one last night that I emailed on, and today he filled up his chart! So I drove and drove and drove to this person's house (which Aidan called the desert, also known as Thornton) and picked up the jeep for our hard working boy. I love it. You can just see the excitement on his face. What a guy. And Micah was happy to ride along. So now we made a new chart for a TRAILER to add to his jeep. Keep working buddy, we believe in you.

Daddy would be proud of his jeep boys.

One proud boy with brother in tow.

And they are off. Someday it will be on the real road.

Full.

Life is full. I can't believe a week has gone by already. Last week was full with a Christmas Party for Aidan's friends, the parade of lights, Jeremy's work Christmas party, and a leadership meeting as our church gets ready to move forward to lease to own a new building.

Which means, this is the time of year where your schedule gets crazy full and then you forget...oh yeah this is the most wonderful time of the year. More like the most stressed, the most tired, the most... Sad, I overheard somebody saying I just need to get through the holidays. Is that really how we want to treat Christmas as a job? I know with the stress of shopping for the perfect dress and getting all our decorations out and perfect, we lose the magic. I'm learning to let go, my tree still doesn't have decorations, the Christmas cookies for the party were out of mix, and I went to bed with dishes in my sink. Oh well. The stress isn't worth it when it sucks life out of you. Can I learn this at 30 already? We will see :)

Pictures from last week posted soon. I had good intentions. Happy Monday.

Countdown to Christmas 22 days!

Monday Quote

Morning...it's been a rough couple days around here, we all got hit with the flu (minus Aidan) but when Jeremy and I are both down and out...well if you are a parent I will say no more :)
But it's Monday and I'm ready to face this week, with God's grace (and the singing Snowman in the background which I set up last night and Micah has now played it straight for A LOT of times...maybe the battery will wear out before the morning is done.)

Here it is:

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power."

Alan Cohen

A.D.'s New Bed

When you have a small room and a ton of toys, what do you do? Build a loft bed of course! The loft bed has been the favorite of college students for years. So Grandpa Dan made one that sits on the half wall ledge in Aidan's room. I'm thankful that all I had to do was polyurethane it. We also painted the half walls chalkboard green. It actually turns the wall into a chalk board too.

Aidan has an interesting painting technique...

Happy boy #1 in the new bed


Happy boy #2 in his brother's bed

The finished product, walls painted and all

Good Advice

Out on Saturday for Girl's night out and we were talking about life. Talking about being a mom and trying to get stuff done and this advice especially struck me. Especially since I'm someone who has a task list or at least an idea of what I want to accomplish each day.

"Welcome life's interruptions."

So true. So simple. Yet so not natural.
I'll keep you posted on this, I'm learning. And if you wish please share with me how you live this in your life.

Quotes

So I have started this "100 list" (you know the one of all the stuff you want to do in your life) and I am trying to encourage others in my life to do the same.

And one of the things on my list is to paint a quote on my wall. I'm a junkie for quotes and would love to know if any of the rest of you out there have any suggestions.

Here's my favorite one of the moment. Trying to live this. Not always easy, but definately trying. (And obviously WAY too long for a wall, but for a scrapbook page, it's perfect :))

"..but the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of the three on them sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4, and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in a hurry to get on to the next things: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less."
-Anna Quindlen

And the same thought in a much simpler way: (I used this a while back but it bears repeating.)
" If you don't stop and look around once in a while you might miss it"
-Ferris Bueller

Happy Wednesday. Don't forget to share your great quotes.

Feeding Puppy

Micah has managed to get attached to something and now it goes everywhere with him. Puppy has now started eating breakfast with him. Sometimes I catch him feeding puppy but mostly he just gets slimed with whatever Micah is eating. Too cute.

"I'm cheering for the Soldiers"

Just a quick brag for daddy. He just won his intermural champion game today (CCU staff guys vs. student winners) and Micah and Aidan got to go cheer him on.

I'm kicking myself for not bringing the camera as we had some good moments, but that's ok. It still happened even if we didn't take a picture of it (I'm learning that, silly but true.)

And yeah the soldiers is what Aidan called Daddy's team of the "elders". I have no explanation for that one. Just a good laugh.

Off to work on Aidan's next rite of passage....the bunk bed.

Getting out of the house

I told Micah it was time to go this morning and he came running down to brush his teeth (literally his favorite thing to do, he gets "busted" sneaking in the bathroom all the time) and had on his Packer hat...that he put on all my himself.

Seriously a nut. He drives me crazy and makes me laugh all in the same minute.

I thought all those Packer Backers (and moms trying to leave the house) would appreciate this.

Happy Wednesday to all.

The Spinning Wars

(sorry it's a long story, but I'm long winded what can I say?) It has a point though...

So this morning I headed to the gym for a 9 am spinning class that I go to once and a while. It's never been full before (keep that in mind in my story here). And as I checked in at the front desk and heard the people behind me ask for the sign up sheet for the class, thought hmmm I wonder if I should sign up. But with 2 kids in tow and already heading towards the kids club I thought I'd let it go. So then I sign my kids in to the kids club (see how much work it is to get a workout?!) and then think...I should go sign in for that class just in case. So I go back to the front desk and wait. And wait some more. Then I talk to the front desk attendant and she says the instructor already took the list the class started.

So I head to the class and it's full.

I was so MAD. So mad. Seriously the girls BEHIND me got in and I didn't. So my selfish little attitude took it out on the treadmill for a while since all the exercise bikes were also full. (Seriously where are all these people coming from at 9 am on a Tuesday morning?)

So I ran, hard, and then headed over to the bikes because I saw one open up. And I couldn't help but overhearing the girls next to me talk about some thyroid problems she was having and nodules that were getting tested. So my nosy little self said, "I heard you guys talking and just wanted to let you know that I just had thyroid surgery in August." So she came over and talked to me for a long time about her symptoms and what she was going through.

Which normally I would have thought was a nice coincidence. But with reading Chasing Daylight (study at church, way awesome by the way) I believe it was more. I believe it was a divine appointment. And while I didn't save anyone's soul today I did get a chance to calm their thoughts and nerves. And that made me smile and realize maybe when we see something full in life really it's God opening us up for more. Look for those in your life, I'm glad I did today.

Rite of Passage

This is Aidan's first churro bought by himself. Wow, how did he get so old so fast? Churros at Costco have been one of his favorite things for a long time now. I told him he could go buy it himself after he ate his lunch (a hot dog, more health there.) And the pride he had was so precious. I couldn't have bought a better memory for a buck (plus tax.)

(Taken 10/31, Posted 11/5)

Me want coookiiiiieee

Last night I read to Aidan from the Sesame Street books that I had when I was a kid. I had totally forgotten that there was a recipe for Cookie Monster's Cookies. I told Aidan that he and mommy had to make me some of the cookies. It turned into a hilarious evening to be sure.

We didn't really count on them being sugar cookies, so we were a little out of season with Christmas trees, angels, hearts, and gingerbread "daddy, mommy, big boy and baby".

This is officially Aidan's first cookie. While we weren't looking he took the last scraps of dough, rolled it out, and used the heart cut out. There wasn't enough dough to fill the heart cutter, but he was soooo proud.

Aidan's quite the ace with the camera and he insisted on taking a picture of us. You'll notice that he didn't want to embarrass me by showing how much hair I had lost so he framed the picture just right to capture the moment...

The book that started it all

Aidan's Photography

As you may have seen in previous post's Aidan has become quite the photographer. His talent has since grown and he now goes around the house taking pictures of his favorite things. Not only does it make me laugh, it gets me thinking ...these are the things that are important to him. Things that he treasures. What would it look like if we all walked around with a camera's view? Would we remember that what we are seeing are treasures to be taken in? The people around us, the everyday things we use...would we treat it differently?

The Last 4 Months...

Wow. Life is blowing us by. As Ferris Bueller so profoundly says "Life moves pretty fast you don't stop and look around once and a while you might miss it."

I walked outside this week and saw the flowers starting to peak out of the ground and it was such a visual reminder that life keeps moving on...so here's to Ferris Bueller.

Highlights of Porier life in the past four months (since I posted last!) include ....
visits from Uncle Nate and Uncle Beau, traveling to Grandma and Grandpa's in TX, Birthday celebrations for 2 boys (is it going to be this way every year? :)), Christmas, snow storms, remodeling the basement. But hey I'll let the pictures speak for you. So yeah, those are my excuses. But excuses or not life is happening. So enjoy it, posting always reminds me to. Maybe spring time will allow me some time to post more (since I won't be spending hours and hours shoveling...hopefully.)

Life

I'm up and moving. Watch out world (with clicker in hand of course.)
Uncle Nate up at Red Rocks during his visit. (Uncle Beau behind the camera.)
Brother's kiss (?) enjoyed at Grandma Faye's and Grandpa Mike's house during early spring break trip to Texas.
Mickey Mouse cake (handmade by grandma Sara).
A 1st Birthday cake. Of course.

More Life

Micah crawling through his birthday tunnel.
The gingerbread house tradition lives on (mommy bakes, mommy frosts, Aidan eats)
Micah's first Christmas (obviously)
Our huge snowstorm which = hours of shoveling.

Drilling a hole in the basement (of course that's what we always do).