My Mom Got It Right

This week, my small group talked about moms. We talked about how moms have incredible power to shape the lives of their daughters. Once again, I totally lucked out in this department.

I have an awesome mom. She spoke blessings and affirmations into me. She protected my heart. She nurtured me. She taught me how to set and achieve life goals. She showed me how to work hard. She showed me what a good mother does and that has directly impacted the kind of mother I strive to be.

In my group, I said that I can honestly say that my mom has always been right. About everything. Seriously. Except for maybe that one time when she encouraged me to try out for cheerleading (those of you who know me, understand how funny that is). But even then, her heart was in the right place.

Throughout my life, my mom has been my greatest source of encouragement and comfort. When I was growing up, if I ever got sick, she slept on my bedroom floor at night just to make sure I was ok. She always put me first and that gave me a realistic and practical example of unconditional sacrificial love.

If you have a mom who got it right, tell her. It's a big deal.

Easter Egg Hunt 2010

Easter Candy Rocks

Of all the holidays, Easter definitely has the best associated candy. You just can't beat the Sweet Tarts shaped like ducks, bunnies, and chicks. And the selection of jelly beans is fantastic. I'm partial to certain flavors of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans (which you can get all the time and is not specific to Easter). But in terms of Easter jelly beans, the Sour Patch ones are pretty great as are the Star Burst ones. Here's a video of Harper eating some Sour Patch jelly beans last night. She must have a high tolerance for sourness, because she barely even flinched.

On a side note, Harper and I saw a rainbow on our way home last night. The conditions were right for a rainbow, so I was keeping an eye out. And sure enough, we saw one. Although I understand the physics of rainbows, I want to believe that God made that rainbow for me to see to remind me that He keeps His promises and that everything would indeed be ok. After the morning I had yesterday, that was a nice visual reminder.

Sometimes I Need A Reminder

Sometimes anxiety hits me out of nowhere. This morning I was thrown into an internal panic over Rob having to take one of our cars into the shop to have a relatively minor repair. But, we just had to get our other car fixed last month, and we owe on our taxes this year, and we still haven't sold our house in Cincinnati, and we need to sell the third car that's sitting in our driveway, and, and, and... Things just snowball in my mind sometimes and it gets me all worked up. I worry about money. Specifically, I worry about not having enough money. But the truth is that we do have enough money and all of the above things will be taken care of. But man, I can say those words to myself and still feel very anxious on the inside. Why is it that I know that God will provide for us (because I've seen Him do it before) and I still fear not having enough? And not only has He provided for us, but He has blessed us with unbelievable gifts. So today I am reminding myself that I am not in charge and that everything is going to be ok.

Are We Listening To The Same Song?

I watch American Idol and I'm not afraid to admit it. Overall, this season is pretty good. My favorite is a girl named Didi Benami. I think she's great. The judges, on the other hand, beat her up every week. I couldn't have disagreed more with them last night. They said her pitch was off, she picked a bad song, and her performance felt artificial. I couldn't believe it! I thought it was a great performance. What do you think? I know I'm not an expert, but I do think that I have a little bit of discernment when it comes to music. Am I totally off base?

My Dad Got It Right

Last night, my small group talked about fathers (which was good timing because yesterday was my dad's birthday). We talked about how a father's relationship with his daughter influences every aspect of her life including things like everyday decisions, career choices, relationships with other men, how she views herself, and how she ultimately views God.

I lucked out in this department. I have a dad who got it right. He spoke blessings and affirmations into me. He protected me. He understood the power he had to point me in the right direction. He gave me a good example of how a husband should treat a wife which ultimately helped me pick out a good husband for myself.

We built snow forts together. And we went on canoe trips. And he taught me how to drive. And we went fishing on the Flagler pier. And we picked on my mom together. But most importantly, he told me that he loved me and that he was proud of me. 

If you have a dad who got it right, tell him. If you have a husband who is getting it right with your kids, tell him. It's a big deal.

Like I said, I lucked out in this department. I have a good dad and I have a husband who's really getting it right with Harper.

Family Outing

On Saturday, we took advantage of the fleeting beautiful spring weather and went to the zoo. It was great!

We saw goats - because everyone knows when you go to a zoo, you want to see the rare and exotic goats...

who were possibly tranquilized (no, not really).

Harper liked them, even if she was a little timid at first.

These little meerkats are probably my favorite animals at the zoo. They're cute and inquisitive and I like that Harper thinks they look like our cat, Sage.

And, they're much nicer than these rude little lemurs who wouldn't even turn around to say hi to us. Whatever.

We also saw some lazy zebras

and a couple rather imposing looking ostriches.

And then there was this guy, who thought he was pretty tough because he could carry a tree trunk around like it was no big deal.

All in all, it was a great day. I'm sure we'll be going back quite a few times this summer.

Congrats, Rob!

Last night, my husband received an award from the police department. He was given a Metropolitan Police Department Chief's Coin in recognition for going above and beyond the call of duty. Something about catching 5 armed robbers at one time. You'll have to ask him about it. Doesn't sound like a big deal to me, but what do I know:)

Basketball, Harper, Science, and Classical Music -- One Stop Shopping

Just a bunch of random thoughts for today.

1. I'm looking forward to the NCAA basketball tournament this year. Ohio State looks good (although I don't have them going all the way). Should be fun to watch.

2. Harper is becoming quite the backseat driver. While we're driving, she will point in a particular direction and say "Mommy, that way." She gets ticked if we don't go the direction she suggested.

3. I took this picture at work the other day. It's of a blood vessel (red) surrounded by some omentum tissue (yellow). The way that the vessel is folded in on itself is a little unusual. I think it looks cool.

4. I like classical music. This particular piece has been in my head lately. It's a tuba concerto (I know, hard to believe). It's by one of my all time favorite composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams. You can listen to the 2nd movement of the concerto here. I'll bet that you've never heard a tuba played like this before (and this recording isn't even that great - it's just the best one I could find on youtube).

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Kind Of

Uggggg! Totally did not set my alarm last night and overslept this morning. Not a huge deal because I have an awesome job where I don't have a particular time that I have to be there in the morning. But still, my morning routine was obliterated. I am a creature of habit and when my habits are disrupted, I am disrupted. Luckily, I have a cool baby that puts things in perspective and sings songs to me in the car to brighten my day.

On a completely unrelated note... Does anyone else remember Shamrock Shakes from McDonalds? Why can't you get them anymore? They totally rocked! I did a quick google search and found this website that is devoted to helping people locate the rare establishment that still serves them. Sadly, none in my area. Oh well.

Car Talk

I know the blogging has been sporadic lately. I'll do better. I promise. To make it up to you, here's a cute video of Harper. We had a few minutes to kill last night, so I pulled the camera out and attempted to have a conversation with her. As you will see, it was more singing than conversing, but oh well. We also practiced some new words.

Harperisms

A couple (mostly Harper related) things for today:

• Harper is in this phase where she wants to know the name for everything. So, she walks around pointing at things and saying "Mommy, name?" It's cute and I'm glad that she's inquisitive, but after the 1 millionth time, it's slightly less cute.
• Keeping in mind the above bullet point... if Harper wants my attention and doesn't get it right away she will call my name and then click her tongue (ie. Mom, Mommy, Mom, click, Moooooommy). I have no idea where she picked that one up. It's great. Let me tell you.
• Harper is starting to talk about monsters these days. At first, she would just hold her baby dolls and tell me they were sad because of monsters. Now, she's starting to be afraid of them. She doesn't want to be the first person to walk into a room, especially if the light is off. I've explained to her that there are no monsters in our house, but she's not buying it. So last night I told her that 1. there are no monsters and 2. if she ever feels scared, she can ask Jesus to help her. This morning, she walked around the house saying "Jesus help me!" and when we pulled out of the driveway she said "Bye monsters. Bye Jesus." Baby steps, right?
• Harper's birthday was a good 3 weeks ago. But every day since then, she has sung happy birthday to herself.
• Finally these are popping up. Thank goodness. I was beginning to lose hope.

Good People Doing A Good Thing

Some of you know my friends Ryan and Allison. Right now, they are in Kenya on a Compassion International mission trip. They are blogging about what they see and experience there. If you get a minute, check out their post from yesterday (actually check out all of their posts, but especially the one from yesterday). Click here to read it.

Our Kid Goes Up To 11

Keystone Update 3 - Ski Day

What a day! I skied Keystone today and it was absolutely perfect. It was sunny and warm and not crowded at all. Here are some pictures that I took with my cell phone. The views might have been the best part.

This is a picture of the start of the one and only black diamond run that I went on. It was the last run of the day. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it or not. I am a very in control skier. I hate feeling like I'm out of control. So, I ski well but cautiously the whole time. However, there was a little piece of me that wanted to prove that this 30 year old mother could still ski the blacks like the 21 year old single girl that I used to be. So, I went down it. It was hard. But, I made it without falling (in fact, I didn't fall all day) and feel a small sense of accomplishment. The end.

Keystone Update 2 - Ice Capades

Today, Harper went ice skating for the first time. She did great! I was really impressed with her ability to balance on the skates.

I took this right after I got her all laced up. She really liked the skates and kept showing everyone her "new shoes".

I am not an expert skater and didn't want to take any chances while trying to balance myself and Harper. So... I wore these nice little slip on ice shoes instead of skates. They worked well.

Here, Harper is taking a break on some of the snow that they cleared off of the ice.

We had a great time today (and my talk went really well tonight by the way). Tomorrow we are headed to the slopes! Wish us luck!

Keystone Update 1

We've been in Keystone for about 2 days now and we're having a lot of fun already. Harper has weathered the altitude like a champ! Yesterday, we took a walk around the condo to get the lay of the land. Right outside our door is the largest maintained outdoor ice skating rink in North America. Harper loved watching the skaters. I think we're going to have to give it a try tomorrow.

She also liked looking at (and sitting on) the various ice sculptures that are scattered around the property.

But, her favorite thing so far has been making and throwing snowballs!

We've got a lot planned for the next few days. Stay tuned for more updates!