starting a new year

we were so glad we got to welcome in the new year with the haneys and other good friends at jason and liz's on new year's eve.

me and vivi

matt is watching in awe as liz is "bringin' it" to jason in wii tennis like it ain't ever been brung! (jason, this is our blog and that's our story and we're sticking to it! :))

matt's parents came up to watch the very sad ohio state game with us. here are some pictures of simulated and short-lived excitement during the game!

touchdown! we did score a few of those!

on new year's day we took stelly to chuck e cheese for the first time. that is worthy of a post all it's own so stay tuned!

christmas in ohio

it is so nice being able to see both our families when we go home for a visit. we had a wonderful christmas celebrating with them. stelly had been working on memorizing luke 2:8-14 since october and she was able to say it for the christmas services we attended with them. amazingly enough, i think she understood some of the humility of Jesus' birth b/c she felt really bad that He didn't have a crib for a bed. that thought seemed to sink in because it was something she could relate to (not b/c she didn't have a crib, but b/c a crib was pretty central in her life for 2 years!).

even though christmas is put away at our house, everyday we continue to celebrate Jesus and His power to save His people from their sins!

stelly loving spending time with ammy
appy's birthday is on christmas day so he gets double the presents!
when she got to mimi and gampa's she headed straight for the santa hat
proud buckeyes (even in spite of our loss on monday night)
mom owen always makes the most delicious food, so christmas dinner is even a step up from that (yes, it's really that good!).

christmas baking and our own little celebration

maybe we should've gotten her her an apron for Christmas! can you tell i'm a laid back mom?

stelly's such a good little helper in the kitchen (not indicated by the previous picture!). one thing she did to help w/ christmas baking was unwrap several dozen hershey's kisses for peanut butter blossoms.
in this picture she's wearing or holding almost every gift she got from us!every time i read this book to her i tell her that of course she would tell mommy what had gone on that day while i was out! (our children will not lead secret lives, right, charisse?!?!)
what a shocking surprise! matt got me a past present future ring! i was so excited to get such a beautful and thoughtful present!

i got matt these starter clubs since he's learning to golf. his hood is up so you won't "fear the fro." trust me, it's not nearly as cool as ben wallace's, although i love waking up to it every morning!

I Guess Snow Isn't For Everyone

We woke up this morning to several inches of snow on the ground. Most area churches (including ours) had to cancel their services, so I guess you could call it a snow day. I thought it would be fun to take Stella outside to play in her first real snow while I shoveled our driveway. You can see her response below, hence the title of my post. Maybe next year...

I think the neighbors could hear the weeping 3 blocks away.
This is what happens when you forget to buy your child boots. We had to wrap her shoes in Target bags, so she is probably going to hate us some day for taking this picture. What can I say? Sometimes you have to improvise!
Still not liking it very much.
Now we're warming up to the idea.
Of course you can always stand where it's warm and just look at it (though you can't take the hat off).

catch-up

here are some pictures from a fun and busy november:

our first time at the joe seeing the red wings. we won, of course! :)
ammy reading to stelly at thanksgiving
stelly and appy
me and my girl
after a nice thanksgiving day

stelly with mimi and gampy when they came to visit us bearing gifts from the east

stelly in her chinese dress

stelly snuggling with baby asher during our visit to see aunt charissey and uncle jared

it's so nice seeing men with their children. matt and jared were so sweet and let charisse and i do some shopping at a huge outlet mall while they handled the kids in the food court for a few hours. not an easy task for anyone!

stelly helping daddy put up our christmas tree

annual jd halloween party

it was matt's idea for stelly to dress up like minnie mouse this year. since we brought her a minnie shirt home from florida back in july she has been very excited to spot mickey and minnie anywhere and everywhere. if there's a picture of one of them anywhere in a mile radius she will point it out - even if it's on our neighbor's key ring 3 houses down!

her loot
looking very excited about the ring pop (although she has no idea what one is)
some pumpkin pants from ammy for the occasion

October Tributes

I love October. It's one of my favorite months. My grandma's birthday is October 16. She would've celebrated her 71st birthday this year had God not taken her home to be with Him in December of 1985. Although her death from an earthly perspective was tragic, from Scripture we are convinced it was gain (phil 1:21). Her life on earth was Christ and her life in heaven with Him is far better (phil 1:23). So during this month, I can't help but remember her godly testimony and amazing influence on my life for eternity's sake.

Also, Matt's birthday is this month. I can't write about him because it's just too hard to do - honestly, I'm not eloquent enough to even touch on the kind of man he is. In scriptural categories, he meets (exceeds) the qualifications of what a godly man and Christian are supposed to be (and the true test of this is what he is in our home). And so it would only follow that in human categories - the deep heart needs that every woman hopes (but doesn't really expect) to have met - he has done what my bruised and skeptical heart never thought possible. So as October 23 approaches, I am humbled at God's giving him to me and want to remind him how thankful I am for him.

Last, Reformation Day is October 31. I've blogged about this before, but can't let it go by in 2007 w/o remembering Martin Luther. What follows is a tribute to both him and Matt. Now that I think of it, I like the fieriness of both their personalities!

Luther on Diapers

Now observe that when that clever harlot, our natural reason (which the pagans followed in trying to be most clever), takes a look at married life, she turns up her nose and says, “Alas, must I rock the baby, wash its diapers, make its bed, smell its stench, stay up nights with it, take care of it when it cries, heal its rashes and sores, and on top of that care for my wife, provide for her, labour at my trade, take care of this and take care of that, do this and do that, endure this and endure that, and whatever else of bitterness and drudgery married life involves? What, should I make such a prisoner of myself? 0 you poor, wretched fellow, have you taken a wife? Fie, fie upon such wretchedness and bitterness! It is better to remain free and lead a peaceful. carefree life; I will become a priest or a nun and compel my children to do likewise.”
What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. It says, “0 God, because I am certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its diapers. or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? 0 how gladly will I do so, though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labour, will distress or dissuade me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight.”
Now you tell me, when a father goes ahead and washes diapers or performs some other mean task for his child, and someone ridicules him as an effeminate fool, though that father is acting in the spirit just described and in Christian faith, my dear fellow you tell me, which of the two is most keenly ridiculing the other? God, with all his angels and creatures, is smiling, not because that father is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith. Those who sneer at him and see only the task but not the faith are ridiculing God with all his creatures, as the biggest fool on earth. Indeed, they are only ridiculing themselves; with all their cleverness they are nothing but devil’s fools.
Martin Luther, “The Estate of Marriage”(HT: Cranach)

Happy Birthday, Daddy! We love you!

enjoying the last little bit of summer

stella absolutely loves josey. if we've having people over i'll say, "stelly! guess who's coming to our house?" her go-to answer is always, "josey!" if i ask her what we did that day, once again her answer is almost always, "josey!" last week, we did get to have josey over to play and stelly was loving life! here they are enjoying their fruit snacks and sippy cups.

it has been nice having some extra time to play outside and go for walks with the extended summer weather. stelly loves to play on her "playground" as she calls it. thanks to some very generous friends for this fun gift!

although it looks like we were feeding the ducks in the middle of the night it was actually still light out, but we had to use the flash anyway. there's a nice little pond and lots of ducks along the new walking track that circles fairlane green and all the new shops. some friends told us to take stelly there and let her feed the ducks. she loved it!

household drudgery? i hope not!

each month with stelly is such a joy. it's wonderful to enjoy life from her perspective. things we might take for granted have a whole new significance when seen from her little 2 year old eyes. these past few months have been humbling reminders too of how much we need God's help to train her in the way she should go. i don't think it's a stretch to compare it to what paul mentions in II cor 11:28, that daily he faced the pressure of his concern for all the churches. i must admit i don't have a lot of "stress" the way it's commonly viewed, but the responsibility of parenting is a weighty one, and it's good to feel that weight. in the "mundaneness" of my life as a wife and mother, it's so important i never miss the perspective of one of the main reasons why i do what i do. i love this quote in a book by one of my spiritual heroes, missionary elisabeth elliot:

"The story is told of three women washing clothes. A passerby asked each what she was doing.

"Washing clothes," was the first answer. "A bit of household drudgery," was the second. "I'm mothering 3 young children who some day will fill important and useful spheres in life, and wash-day is a part of my grand task in caring for these souls who shall live forever," was the third."

now, the third lady's perspective is the one i want!

here are some misc. shots from some sept. activities:

ever so hesitantly petting the bunny our little piggy

mirroring the way daddy was standing
sun hats are so important on those blustery fall days
before heading to the library for reading time
taking after her mimi in the kitchen
she loves to watch me make dinner and says, "i see?" when she wants to stand on the stool to get a closer look