Birthday Part Deux

Hello again! Avery is out circling the block with my parents on this:

Shawn and I got her a bike for her birthday and she loves it. She got it when she got home from school today, along with the Polly Pockets helmet (chosen b/c it came with a Polly Pocket, of course). She keeps talking about how proud she is of her bike. She's doing a great job too! She's just not little anymore :(

I brought cookies to her class and stole a few pics. Ms. Davis (her teacher) had a cute "Happy Birthday" tiara for her to wear and the kids sang happy birthday. The little boy in the pic is her best friend Braxton. He's a cutie.
Tonight is pizza night with Braxton and his family to round out Avery's birthday festivities. Praise God for his blessings. We adore our beautiful Avery.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Avery!

Four years old today and an absolute doll!

We had her birthday party on Saturday - an indoor pool party. And yes, it felt insane to put on a swimsuit in that crazy cold weather. But the kids had fun and that's all that matters! Avery hit the princess dressup jackpot. I'll have to get pictures of her in each one and share.

Her school Christmas program last Thursday. I was thrilled that she sang, smiled and had a good ol' time. She is normally on the shy side so this was greatness!

Asher's new favorite pasttime - dressing up in sis's stuff. I do have another picture with him in her "Princess" ball cap.The red mittens on his hands - he's taken to wearing those at bedtime during story/song time and even into bed. After awhile I hear him in his bed yelling "mama!" when he's ready to take them off. He is the most adorable mess.

asher and avery

My baby boy is 18 months old today...

Also, a few pictures from the "Arboreto". There are more but this is a start (ahem, Creth).

A certain sassy girl turns 4 next Tuesday!
Hangin' with the newly-reweds...
I just think these last two are cool.
So organic.

Song of the Season

I have come across the most beautiful song for my Christmas this year.

Last Saturday (as in the 1st), our church hosted Behold the Lamb by Andrew Peterson. He was accompanied by a few other singer/songwriters (Bebo Norman, Sara Groves, Jill Phillips and her husband Andy, and Andrew Osenga). They spent the first half of the program doing an Artist in the round deal. After that, they came back and performed the "musical". It really is just a series of songs that tell a story - no acting or costumes or live animals :-)

Having worked in a christian bookstore years ago, I was exposed to Jill Phillips and Andrew Peterson but hadn't heard anything from them in years. I like Bebo but don't have any recent stuff of his and I had no familiarity with Sara Grove's music. I don't make it to concerts too often and spend too much time listening to talk radio. So, this was a great night! I was debating about even going b/c I had had such a crummy day and was stressing about Asher spending the night at my parents for the first time and was feeling guilty about being short with Avery. Shawn had to direct the concert so he was at the church for the day. I texted him at one point saying I wasn't coming. He said to wait until closer to the time to make that decision. Thankfully the cloud lifted and I went. God used that time away from the kids and the music to refresh my soul.

Okay, so Jill Phillips has a gorgeous voice! One song from Behold the Lamb is called Labor of Love and man, it floors me everytime I hear it. I can't sing but there are a handful of songs out there that make me want to sing for all I'm worth. This would be the Christmas song for me.
Go here , scroll down until you see Behold the Lamb and then click on Open Player. Find Labor of Love and click. Take a listen and let me know what you think! (I'm sure there is a much easier way to embed a song on here but I haven't a clue how to do it.)

I'm avoiding work right now. Our Neighborhood Life ministry is coming to an end and I've more than checked out. It really hits home how hard it is to "finish strong". But I don't want to not complete our commitment through this month. It feels like that would negate three years of work and service.

We spent the day at the "arboreto" (according to Avery) today with Shawn's recently re-married parents (PRAISE GOD!). Despite a diva daughter and nap-less son, we had a nice time and the weather made it very enjoyable. Santa was there as was Mrs. Claus, a rather odd bird-like Snowman and a cute Rudolph. Avery braved a hand-holding drive by of the snow"bird"man but wouldn't touch him. She liked Rudolph and went as far as a high-five. Ash preferred them a good bunch of feet away but would wave and "talk" to them. Shawn took pics so I hope to get a few up here...someday.

There is a chocolate exhibit right now at the Arboretum. You follow the stages of production from tree to finished Dove chocolate. As you leave the Arboretum, you're given a piece of chocolate. You have the choice of milk or dark chocolate. I asked for "four darks please". I guess most folks don't go for that because she said how about 8? and heaved a pile of Dove chocolate into my hands. Oh well, one man's meat is another man's poison, right?

I'm a bit rusty so I'll close for now and get back to my overdue work before my eyes shut (Sleep is a high commodity ever since Asher decided to get all of his molars and front teeth AT THE SAME TIME! Poor kid, poor mom).