Renovations begin!!

Woo HOO! The renovation process on our house has BEGUN!!! I'm so excited. Today we took down two walls. One that had glass and wooden doors built into them as an entry into the "formal living room. ( and don't forget the glorious "alter" in the corner that also had to go..)

 and then the wall between the formal living room and the dining room.  It turns out the wall between the two rooms had been added in at some point which is CRAZINESS so we UNdid some work there. 

so out came the sledge hammers and drills and down came some walls....

It already looks a million trillion times bigger and more open!!

another little piece of my heart

Last week Tabitha had a anaphylaxis reaction to....something. We've narrowed it down to peanuts, tree nuts and strawberries because she embarrassingly had had ALL those things before the reaction started! In my defense ( though, is there really a defense in these cases?!?) she's had strawberries and peanuts on an almost weekly basis for a long time! But lets just say I've had a crash course in allergens and will hopefully make no more rookie mistakes.

Anyway, there is really nothing like sitting on a hospital gurney with your non responsive daughter in your arms as no less then six people swarm around her. Someone shoving an Epi-Pen into her thigh.  It is a nightmare. I will not forget it for a long time. Thankfully, this story ends happily-with a little girl running laps around a pediatric ward ( thanks steroids!) in her Minnie Mouse PJs happy as a lark. But it got me thinking...

Parenting is seriously the scariest most heart rending thing a person can do. Every day is allowing little pieces of your heart to just run around outside your body and it is an exercise in absolute faith ( and exhaustion) that we get any sleep at all! Tabitha has given me two major scares in her short life not counting the 9 month scare before she was even born, and with each one I just find myself spending a multitude of time in thanksgiving. We have truly been exceedingly blessed and I want to share one of the better blessings with you now.

I am at the very end of my first trimester with another little Wilson! Are you surprised? Or are you like my mom who was like, "Ok, yeah whatever...we knew this was coming. When should I mark my calendar?"
Well it doesn't matter because honestly I'm surprised. Not that I don't know how babies are made and we had stopped playing 'defensively" and basically since we've been very blessed in the past I did have an idea what might happen....but more that I didn't know if I was ever going to BE ready for the whole "getting pregnant, being pregnant" thing again.  To be perfectly honest the last three months have been down right rife with inward turmoil from guilt to grief to fear to joy to general nausea ( oh, that might have been just normal). I have felt it all.

I hope I don't need to go into why I felt all those different emotions. I hope I don't need to explain because I hope you know as well as I that children are a little piece of your heart-when you have trouble having them it is heartbreaking, when you lose one it is heartrending, when you have one it is heart exploding.

My own heart did not start beating normally until I'd had an ultra sound at 10 weeks and had the doctor check ALL AROUND IN THERE. I wanted every single nook and cranny searched before I gave a sign of relief. But luckily just one baby. And yet? A little part of me was sad...because I'll always miss having twins. It is ok to miss what we won't have. That is ok. But the overall emotion was relief. Relief that we saw a beating heart and that there was just one. Sure, sure, you're all saying, "But what are the ODDS you'd go through something like that again, Abigail?!" And I'm here to tell you, "What were the ODDS that it would happen the first time?!?" I'm a firm non-believer in odds.

So here we are friends! Mostly excited, still suffering a bit from PTSD when it comes to ultrasounds, will I ever EVER be able to look at one normally without hyperventilating a little bit about the status of my child?! The most fun part so far, hands down, was telling Ransom who can't WAIT to have a little brother a little sister is ok too, I guess. And while Tabitha could care LESS because when we told her there was no mention of cats whatsoever, I know she's going to love being a big sister.

And so there you have it! One more "new" thing to add to the pile of new things for the Wilsons in 2015....a new car ( which also proves the "if you build it they will come philosophy because I was NOT pregnant when we got that van!), a new house and now a new family member due to arrive in October....but don't worry...we've got at least one more "new" to surprise you with!! Stay tuned.....

The House: Part 3

This post is part of a three part series: The House Story. If you'd like to catch up, you should read Part 1 and Part 2. 

And now for our exciting conclusion....

So we walked into the house, and it was definitely not love at first sight, like many houses we had seen in our housing search, it was very dated in its decor. ( the area where we are moving was mostly built during the 60s.) In fact, come to find out, the house is the EXACT same floor plan is a house my mother grew up in. But, the difference between this not-updated house is that it was in incredibly pristine condition. Sure, it looked like an episode of I Dream of Jeannie, but I didn't feel the need to take a sledge hammer to the shower, which is what usually happened if we viewed a house that hadn't already been renovated. 

This was a new experience, a house that, yes, I would want to do some serious updating in, but that didn't give me the heebie-geebies. And so we walked through the house, and walked and walked because it JUST. KEPT. GOING. It was HUGE. One side had the typical Master bedroom and master bath along with two more good sized bedrooms with ANOTHER bathroom....and then clear on the other side of the house, through the kitchen, and past the laundry room I found....another bedroom AND another bathroom. All on its own. With its own laundry room exit. I knew immediately that we could make this house work. I was virtually tearing out walls and painting kitchen cabinets-I didn't even wait for my usual bedtime routine! I could definitely make this weird house work. The back yard was large and had a great climbing tree, the front yard was nice and had a nice flat driveway for bicycles and scooters and as I mentioned before it dead-ended into a park. 

But then there was the price to consider.
But isn't what you're thinking...

It was ridiculously low.( yup you read right) So low you would think that maybe there was something MAJORLY wrong with it, or that they hadn't done their homework on the area ( or they didn't really care too much). Whatever the case we made an offer knowing that it would be a battle to get noticed, since with that kind of price and that kind of house it was going to be like bees to honey. One thing we had learned was that this particular area was a sellers market, everyone was clamoring for these houses! In fact, the house we had seen earlier in the day with a veritable island in the back yard already had five offers and it was in its first day on the market. EEK. 

So we made our offer on this I Dream of Jeannie house and I COMPLETELY redid it that night as I laid in bed. I could definitely make this house great, and it was amazing how we had gone from "closet sized" office as an extra bedroom, to "normal sized" office as an extra bedroom to an ACTUAL bedroom plus a bathroom-and not just that, it seemed like it might even be cheaper?! It seemed too good to be true. 

On the second day we learned our suspicions were right on. Investors were coming out of the woodwork making offers on this house. We didn't think we'd be able to hang with the big boys but we waited some more. And then we found out why the house, though 1960s chic, was in such immaculate condition. It was OWNED BY NUNS. 

That's right. Two elderly Sisters had been living in it, and now it was being sold by the larger contingency of nuns ( an order?! They've got names for this sorta thing). The greatest part is that along with that vow of poverty, nuns apparently don't spill soft drinks on carpet or put nails in the walls. They also don't really like investors. They wanted REAL LIVE BUYERS. And that is where we came in. 

I quickly wrote up a "we are an awesome family" letter with a family picture attached in the hopes that while we may not be able to offer the big bucks we CAN promise to bake cookies for our neighbors and pepper the neighborhood with bicycles and sidewalk chalk. And so we somehow stayed in the game. And we waited and waited. 

Unlike the other houses we had made offers on, where we found out if our offer was accepted or not within 48 hours at the most, this took days and days.  Almost a full week went by and we had heard not a PEEP. In fact, exactly a week after we had made our offer I moaned to our babysitter about how long these nuns were making us suffer. And she helpfully gave me the perfect visual. She said these nuns were very much like the Nuns in The Sound of Music who slooooooowly showed the Nazis around their Abbey. From then on I envisioned the nuns slooooowwllly floating ( clearly they floated since they did not cause ANY wear and tear on carpeting) around praying about who to sell their house to. I figured it was perfect. If I had learned anything from our other house offers was that if this house wasn't for us then the door would shut. So all the better having BOTH parties praying over the deal, right? 

And then one afternoon I got a text message from our pastor who knew we were looking for a house and who use to do a lot of realtor work. He had promised to be on the lookout for the perfect house for us. In the months of looking he had yet to send us anything he thought was worth looking at but that day he sent me a link to a house... and of the 100 or so houses in that area that he could have seen and sent to us...he sent us the Nun house! I immediately laughed and messaged back that we had already made an offer on it! It now seemed TOO PERFECT. 

And so 10 WHOLE DAYS went by! They had to extend the option period. It was ridiculous! 

But FINALLY they accepted our offer and we officially were buying a nun house!! A huge nun house with a perfect place to allow people to stay with us and Be. 

Now, I know I'm not one who likes numbers very much but I think it is worth noting when we finally close in the next week ( seriously, they have floated along slowly at EVERY step! Nuns clearly have an ETERNITY to make decisions) we will have a house that is 400 square feet bigger than the previous house ( which was bigger than the first house by quite a bit) and it is....drum roll going to cost significantly less, like the cost of a brand new car less. It is truly unbelievable. 

So, now I'm changing my prayer card. I am now praying for all those who will get to be a part of our new home, who will, for whatever length of time, get to be blessed by our house ( I'll probably need a new name other than "nun house"). I can't wait to share our great blessing with as many as we can! I am also hoping that this story will be a reminder to my future self, and maybe to you too...that when we think something is perfect and it just doesn't work out, maybe just maaaaybe that is because God has something else in mind and maybe the waiting is to get that better thing ready to go. And maybe His timing is always perfect. And if He's given you a dream, like a house or a baby or a country or a mission or a person than I really really suggest you stick to that dream, because it won't just be you fighting for it. The Lord is faithful too and He always wins His battles.

And as for pictures....I promise those will be coming and coming in droves. You are going to get to LIVE this renovations with me people,  so get ready for more than you ever would have wanted.

The House: Part 2

If you missed it, you'll really need to go read the First Part  to this story, so that you can get the FULL EFFECT of what my story is trying to portray.  And once you have gotten yourself fully caught up and "in the zone" of our story, let us continue with....

I HATE HOUSE HUNTING!!! OMG IT IT AWFUL. For one thing, since the beginning of time I have had the unique "problem" of decorating and redesigning imaginary houses in my head. And now that I was faced with REAL houses that might POSSIBLY become my own, every new house that we went to see I would immediately go home and lay in bed and redo and decorate and position furniture in until Kingdom or Dawn came. ( It was always Dawn...). It. was. exhausting. 

BUT the real problem came when we would actually put an offer on a house. Oh boy. I thought it was bad before, but then things got REALLY serious in Abigail's Imagination World. 

The first house we found that we were interested in had fruit trees in the front yard, had been renovated fairly recently, had three good sized bedrooms and 2 and half bath ( the half bath being off of the kitchen in the laundry room, just in case you HAD TO GO while you were doing a load of Whites), and Dun Dun DUNNNNNNNN. A little office off of the kitchen/dining room. "It would be "perfect" for a little "guest room"!!"  I thought to myself! AND because it isn't technically a "bedroom" I bet the taxes are cheaper!! HOORAY! It is the PERFECT HOUSE! Except for the tiny detail in the back yard. What's that?!?! A POOL!?!?! IN THE BACK YARD? INCHES FROM THE BACK DOOR!?!?! 

*sigh* yes. And no matter what my realtor told me about how "awesome" pools where, my many years of lifeguarding could only see my children floating facedown. 

But. I couldn't get past the fruit trees, it being in our price range ( pretty important) and that teeny tiny "guest room" that, to me and my prayer card meant it MUST BE MEANT TO BE! 

So we put in our offer and we waited. And I repositioned furniture at night, and showed pictures of the house to my friends during the day. I could HARDLY WAIT to see if it would be ours! Sure, I kept having flashes of drowning children and the niggling feeling that I would never really be able to sleep well knowing I had a DEATH TRAP literally in the back yard, but I researched safety fences and waited. 

We did not get the house. 

I was devastated. Mostly because I was tired of moving furniture around in my head, because at the end of the day I was really quite relieved that a Pool was not in our future. At least for at least 5 to 10 more years. 

Weeks passed and we found another house. It was on a horse-shoe shaped street, where the two ends dead-ended into a park. The house was towards the "U" part of the street ( so definitely no thru traffic here!) and was gorgeously renovated, and it didn't have a pool. It had MORE CLOSETS THAN I CAN COUNT. ( seriously, I was giddy about the closets) AND AND AND!!!! It also had an "office" off the laundry room/kitchen that would make the perfect "guest room!" AND this one was BIGGER! HOORAY! This house was DEFINITELY for us!!! I loved, loved, loooooved it. Nevermind that the whole backyard was terraced and Brett was worried the kids might fall, or that the front yard was at a drastic 45 degree angle...IT WAS PERFECT.  We made an offer. And I started to mind-decorate every inch of the house in my head.  I was sure this was the one. I even had little "good moral there, God!" blog posts written up about how this house had an even bigger "guest bedroom" than that last house and how I had just needed to be patient! Good, one God, good one! The wait was longer this time, and there was even a little negotiating- they wanted a LOT for the house, and we ended up going up more on our offer than we ever thought we would before the floor finally fell out. 

We did not get the house. 

And so ALL OF FEBRUARY went by and NOT ONE new house, in our price range and in the area that we really felt like was where we were suppose to be, came on the market. NOT ONE. 

And then March happened. Two new houses came up and we went to look at them even though the pictures did not look promising. We had spent weeks now, widening our search and wondering what was going wrong, so we were feeling desperate. The first house was "Ok" but had the craziest back yard I've EVER seen. Imagine an "island" of dirt smack dab in the middle!...yeah. It was special. 

And so on we went to the next house. It was the COLDEST day we'd had all year and I really just wanted to go home and cuddle by the fire, but I felt committed to doing our due diligence....

The second house of the day just so happened to be on the other side of the horse-shoe street as the last house we had put an offer in.....in fact they literally backed up to each other and shared an alley! That was a curious coincidence....So I walked in the front door....

STAY TUNED to the exciting conclusion of The House.....Part 3!

The House: Part 1

If you know me at all, than you know I love a good story. So it will do everyones heart good to know that at the end of last year Brett and I decided to take the Large Adult plunge and buy a house. And that that particular decision has resulted in, what I think, is a doozy of a story....soooo....If you will allow, I would like to tell you the WHOLE story in ( probably 3) parts....it will be worth it, I will mention the Sound of Music at least once and spoiler alert there will be a happy ending. 

The Beginning....

It is important that we go ALLLLLL the way back to 2003 for the beginning of this story or I don't think you'll fully appreciate it. So lets go back in time to 2003 when I was at University in New Zealand and I was on an ( perfectly enough) Easter Retreat with a bunch of my friends. As with many of these types of things, we would rent out a ( ridiculously beautiful because such is everything in New Zealand) camp ground for next to nothing, we would all sustain on Cheesy Sandwiches ( melted cheese on toast) and Tomato Sauce ( ketchup, but better) and French Toast for the mornings and we would study the Bible and worship together and play touch Rugby during breaks ( not me, but you know, OTHER PEOPLE).  It was idyllic. I know I learned a few things in my classes in college, but if I could give my kids a college experience than THIS PART would be the part I would include. Annnnnyway, during one of our Quiet Times, when everyone found a sunny corner to sit by themselves and spend time with the Lord, I had one of the most direct conversations I've ever had with Jesus. It was as Clear as a Bell. And what the Lord said to me came from 1 Kings 8, where Solomon dedicates the Temple to the Lord. When I was reading it, I felt strongly that I was suppose to have a house like this. Nope, not a house incrusted in gold- although that might be very Caesars palace of me- but a house that was open for people to come and get what the Needed. If the "skies felt closed up" to them, they could come to this House and find clarity, if they were "sick and tired" they could come for rest and renewal. It they were lost, the could come to find their way. It would be a House where people could Be.... 

I was very excited about this future goal, but at the time I lived in a small dorm room, so it was clearly a "future" type thing...but it stuck with me for many years until 2006. 

In 2006 I was sitting in my apartment having a much anticipated "Define the Relationship" conversation with a Holy Hot Guy ( a HHG if you will) who I very much wanted to date ( yes, it was Brett) and who I was very excited he was finally making his move. He was slow to speak in just about all situations and so the conversation was going...well....not as I had expected. Instead of going all Rom-Com on me and professing his undying love and devotion Jane Austen style, he was giving me an ultimatum of sorts. It went something like this: "I've been learning a lot the past few years about the importance of Discipleship and Community in our Spiritual growth and maturity, and therefore I will probably always want to allow guys ( *cough* cough* don't forget the girls, Brett!) to live with me if that is what is needed, and if you can't handle that...." 

I'm not sure if I let him finish. I was SO EXCITED that there was a guy sitting across from me who not only loved Jesus but also had the same "open house" policy ( which, incidentally is kinda hard to find in this particular society) that he might as well have been quoting some sort of soliloquy about my sparkly eyes. And so....we got married. RIGHT. THEN. Just kidding. But we did get married and we did have a very open door policy. In our 8 years of marriage we have had countless people stay in our house for long and short periods of time. The longest I think was about 7 months, and while it hasn't always been as "totally amazing" as my 2003 dream would have imagined ( Read: Dirty Dudes lounging on my couch. ) it has been exactly what it was suppose to be. 

When we moved to San Antonio we moved into a pretty great house, and I truly believe it is where we were suppose to be these last 2 years. And while the house is plenty large ( definitely considering my limited cleaning desires) it did lack in the  "set aside" place for people to stay with us. Sure, we've been able to house short term guests but I feel like for people to really feel comfortable-particularly since we've added two small people who don't know the meaning of "privacy" into the picture-we needed a set aside place for visitors. 

SO....see?!?! Look!! I've finally made it back to the Point At Hand!!! When I made my prayer card for 2015 . I wrote "A House big enough for People". And I knew that meant, an extra room/bedroom set aside from the others for letting people Be. And so I began to pray this prayer as we began to search for a house in earnest....And I knew it had to be a God thing for such a house to exist for us because 1. Brett and I don't like debt. 2. We aren't made of money. So basically we knew "mansion" was not going to be in our price range....

Stay tuned for Part 2 of The House Series!! ( wherein I will discuss one of my Biggest Fears, and we'll be reminded yet again of God's sense of humor)

Some things are just timeless.

A month or so ago our friend Paul emailed Brett, I don't really remember the whole email but I DO remember that he mentioned that his word for the year was "wait" and that he thought maybe it was a word for us too.
"Wait upon the Lord,"  he said.  And I was all, yeah, good one Paul. Thanks.

And then the waiting really got going in earnest.

Have you ever been just super sure something was going to happen but you are clearly going to have to wait for it? Boy, that is my least favorite kind of waiting. Actually, strike that, my least fav kind of waiting is the kind when you DON'T know how its going to turn out....ok. Anyway.  But I've been thinking about it the last week as I've waited incredibly impatiently for something particular.

Does Time ever make you doubt? You feel super confident about some plan or purpose and then Time passes and you think, "Man, because of all that Time, I'm not so sure anymore!"  As though somehow Time negates Truth.

It doesn't.

Many times the Lord gives us promises and then Time passes. It was two years to the day that God told Brett we should essentially move it San Antonio, that we got our keys and walked into our new home in....San Antonio.  During those two years I doubted and worried a LOT about how it was going to all work out.

I married Brett and moved to Washington State 2 and half years ( and one day) after God promised me that when I left New Zealand and moved back to Texas that I would only have to be there for 2 and a half years, during those 2 and a half years I almost forgot that He had even promised me that I would leave again! But God remembered!

The fact that he kept his promises so exactly is pretty remarkable, but lets not just brush past those two years....or even times when we've had to wait longer, or sometimes shorter. The time we Wait can often be difficult because we feel as though it is slowly scrapping away at the Promise.

It isn't.


I believe one of our greatest Joys as believers is to not give up on His Promises even when Time tempts us to falter. I am pretty sure this is our only chance. In Heaven, I think time will be meaningless and Promises will all be fulfilled. So now is our chance.

And so we Wait.

Kid Bibles

I have been remiss. Here I have written all kinds of book reviews on my blog, particularly children's books but I have not done an official blog post on Kids Bibles. Of course, this hasn't stopped me from being super vocal about this topic all over social media and in real life, so maybe this won't be news to any of you but either way, we need to go ahead and talk about this here once and for all.

First off, there is something totally supernatural going on with The Bible In Pictures for Little Eyes.  This little biblestory book is sadly out of print, but still easily accessible on Amazon and on used books sites. That said, my mom had given me a copy when I was pregnant with Ransom and we started reading the little paragraph stories that went along with each large, colorful picture ( these are OLD SCHOOL pictures- Jesus dressed in immaculate white and blue wherever he goes, lots of caucasian children...you know the drill) when Ransom was probably 18 months old. He quickly became fascinated with the book. He would flip through the pictures on his own almost every day. It was adorable and while, yes, some of those pictures are so politically and socially incorrect now, it is a very in-depth bible story book! It covers it ALL and in pretty good detail without making it totally "fluffy" which is my least favorite thing: watering down the Word of God for kids. And, most importantly, Ransom really liked it.

And then Tabitha came around. And at basically the same age she became OBSESSED with her "BBBYYYBEEE-LLLE!!"  In fact, she loved the bible so much, that the already old copy, was completely falling apart and I had to buy a new one.  The other day I had to do some recon missions on house-hunting and she spent an entire HOUR sitting in the back of the car looking at her Bible. One book. For an HOUR.  Honestly.

Ransom moved on to a new Bible Story book at around 2 and a half, maybe three. The little paragraph stories in the first story book where just not detailed enough, and he was old enough to listen to something more in-depth. Enter my FAVORITE BIBLE STORY BOOK EVER: The Jesus Storybook Bible. Now, in the same way that the first bible had art-like pictures, this bible kind of had weird cartoon-y pictures that I was skeptical about, but then I read the first story of Adam and Eve and a BAWLED MY EYES OUT.
People. This Bible Story book is BEAUTIFUL. It answered all my desires for a bible story book that was simple enough for a child to "get" but didn't water down the truth.  Basically, I wish that  C. S. Lewis had written a Bible Story book for kids ( wouldn't that have been GOOD?!) but since he didn't this comes in a very very close second. That first story talks about the Fall of men with Adam and Eve and says, "Well, in another story, it would be all over and that would be "THE END". And then you turn the page and it begins to tell us the wonderful Love of God for his children and that's when you just start crying, people. It is so so beautiful. "It will not always be so! I will come to rescue you!...I will get rid of the sin and the darkness and the sadness you let in. I'm coming back for you!" 
I basically wanted to start cheering right then and there, and then as the stories continue, each one ( particularly those rascally humans in the Old Testament stories) showing the inevitable sinfulness of man, it continually points to the Hope of Jesus and God's "Unstopping. Never Giving up. Unbreaking. Always and Forever Love." for us and it gets me every. single. time.

But, Ransom has been through the Storybook Bible quite a few times and now the plan is to switch it out with the Egermeier' Bible Story Book, read one and then read the other and then back and forth for a while. The stories in this one are a little bit longer and there are fewer pictures so probably best to wait till they are 4 or 5 to bring it in to the mix, just depending on your kiddos attention span. But the stories are SPOT ON and -full discloser- it is the Bible storybook that I was read from when I was a kid so I might have a tiny soft spot for it!


This brings us safely up to the Elementary School years and onto actual Bibles.
While my own kids aren't there yet, I spent a LONG TIME, making a HUGE mess in the Family Christian Bookstore going through all the Kid Bibles about 6 months ago. I was specifically picking one out for a 9 year old boy who attends are Wednesday night home church ( PS. He and his Dad both got baptized last night! COOL STUFF is happening!) and the one I liked most was  The Adventure Bible for Early Readers, NLrV. I'm kind of a snob when it comes to my Bible Versions and I read a LOT of "easy reader" versions before I decided on the New International Readers Version ( NIrV). It is still a "translation" not an interpretation which is important to me ( and, yes, there IS a difference!) but easy to understand and easy to read. I am sure I will revisit the Bibles again when we get to Ransom's first Bible but I think this was a really good choice!

So, now, I want to hear the great finds that you've come across when looking for good Biblical literature for you kids? And honestly, it doesn't have to be the whole bible, maybe you've got a "Daniel and the Lions Den" that'll rock your socks off! I want to hear about them all!

And now I will leave you with pictures from last night! First Brett got to baptize Tony and then Tony baptized his son, Troy! YAY!!!!!!

Waiting....

Did I tell you that Brett and I are wanting to buy a house this year?  It's true!! We've been married for 8 years and have moved just as many times! In fact, we have never lived in a house longer than two years! Thanks Arrrrrmmmmmy!! But things are hopefully about to change and we think we're finally ready to take the plunge and stop paying other people to live in their houses but live in OUR OWN!

I tell you this and I hope you're appropriately proud of me because people its a BIG DEAL for me to make this kind of commitment!!! I've literally gone into an anxiety attack over a 2 year cell phone contract!  "Has a hard time with commitment" seems like an understatement. Well, at least when it comes to things and place.... when it comes to people, its a different story: if I know you, you're going to have to rip our friendship from my cold dead fingers because I WILL NOT LET GO. But anyway.......

We're  searching the "housing market" and I haaaateeeee it!!! I thought buying a car was horrible and no good! Buying a house is a TRILLION times worse! We've made two offers so far and neither have been accepted. I was not at all sad about losing the first house, I knew deep down it wasn't for us, but the second one had a million walk-in closets and I could see myself with a million walk-in closets. We had also been officially looking for a house for...oh, 2 months and that seemed like way too long. I mean, COME ON! We've lived in this house for 1 year and 10 months and Mama's got itchy feet!
But it was not meant to be, and since Brett and I have settled on a very specific part of our city to look for houses in- we are now essentially waiting on people to put houses on the market.

Waiting....

Does ANYONE like to wait?!?! I hate it.

But tonight I was reminded that God's timing is not my timing. Not even remotely. Rarely-and I mean rarely have things happened when I wanted them to happen. But they have often-and I mean often have things happened perfectly in God's timing.

And so I will wait. And I will try to be patient about it. And if I'm not patient, you will forgive me, right? Because we're friends and you are NOT GETTING RID OF ME.

Book Recommendations: The Bear Books

This morning I caught Tabitha "reading" one of her favorite books and it reminded me that I promised you my pick for best Christmas book to read to a PreK class. Of course, it's probably not that important to any of you now, at the end of January. I'm always amazing with my timing, aren't I?!?
 BUT, that being said,  I suggest you all pin this puppy in your "NEXT year will be the best Christmas ever" folder on Pinterest ( working title) because you WILL love it.
And since it IS the end of January it is a good thing that this post will also lead ever so nicely into some OTHER book suggestions which are maybe a little more seasonable. So I will start with Tabitha's current favorite books. We got a few of these Karma Wilson  Bear books in some Chickfila meals a little while ago, I stuck them in a travel bag to pull out later as "throw away" books when we're out and about to hand the kids and not worry about whether they get lost or ripped etc.- BUT when I finally actually read them they quickly got an upgrade to "part of the Wilson collection of books" and have stayed in the highly coveted "beside Tabitha's bed" spot for weeks now.  We LOVE these books! We have three of them, Bears New Friend, Bear Feels Scared and Tabitha's personal favorite : Bear Snores On

Ransom really enjoys them too, the stories are funny and have rythmn to them which makes them fun for me to read out loud. But Tabitha will regularly pretend to sneeze in the car and then laugh and I know she's thinking about "Bear snores on"...( you'll have to read it to know the reference). To me that is enough of an enforcement. But the fact that there is basically a Bear book for every season ( "Bear says Thanks" is in the fall, "Bears New Friend" is set in the summer, "Bear wants More" is in the Spring...) makes them EXCELLENT books to grab at the library to get your kids in the mood for a new season and to get your preschools talking about the different changes going on in nature. Love love LOVE!

Sooooooooo, when I was searching for a Christmas book and found that Karma Wilson had written a book called "Mortimer's Christmas Manger" I was ALL over it! And then to my surprise ( the Bear books have no Christian reference that I have found so far) this little story of a mouse who finds a nativity scene with the perfect sized bed for a mouse, has a perfectly integrated and easy to understand Jesus-in-the-manger and the whole deal story without shoving it down your throat boring style. It ended up being sweet and meaningful and fun. I loved loved LOOOOOOVED this book!

So, go check out The Bear Books if you haven't already and you WILL fall in love with all his little forest friends, and then sneak a peak at little Mortimer while you are at it and I KNOW it'll be on your Christmas reading list for 2015.

And now tell me what is your kiddos current favorite book?! I know it changes all the time at our house so it is fun to keep track of these things :-) 

The book update.

Hey friends, remember way back when, when I told you I was going to write a book? And how its been mostly crickets on this end for a while on that front?

Well...yeah. I now totally laugh at the naive girl that thought she could get the first draft done by Tabitha's first birthday...or second birthday. It turns out that all the good juicy stuff that is really worth writing about, is all the stuff that takes time to write about. Not just the normal time that we call "Time Unoccupied by Small People" time but that special Time that is used for deep reflective thought.
That time is rare. But, I've cut myself some slack on the "time" department. I've given myself a few little deadlines just to keep the ball rolling, but I think they are much more manageable now.

However, I wanted to share something kinda neat with you guys: One thing I was worried about by not having this lovely first draft finished was that as time passed, so would my memories. That I would lose the good juicy story-telling aspect of description. And that the details would fade. I had been really praying and worrying about that particular downfall of this writing journey being so long. But then, I got the neatest answer from the Lord! I was singing in church the other day, minding my own business, when a line from the song struck me so hard I had to catch my breath! In that one little line ( which I can't even remember now, and which probably doesn't even have anything really to do with what happened next) I was taken back to a particular day in Tabitha's story. I mean I was there. And it was like I remembered things the Lord did in that day that I hadn't really thought about ever, or maybe had just forgotten, but either way they were FRESH and I was able to write it all down so easily! It was a cool little reminder that what I set out to do from the beginning was to write down what the Lord had done and what He taught me from that particular season in our lives. Those things are His. His memory is perfect and He knows what happened just as perfectly today as He did on the day that he first did them! Hooray!
Now, while I may have written it all down "easily" after that happened in church, I'm still tweaking and smoothing out that "easy" work a week or so later, so yeah, writing a book is hard. But thankfully the work is not just mine!

I do sometimes get caught up in what to DO with this story when I'm finished with it, but I'm just hoping that, that will become clear when the time comes! Wish me writing Luck! Or better yet, say a prayer for me. ;-)

Good Morning, Vietnam!

Periodically, for my own later amusement I like to document what my morning routines are like at our house here on the blog. I do this because I love routine and I hate mornings. And while the routine keeps changing over and over again, those mornings keep coming every SINGLE day ( I, suppose, thankfully...but whatever.). And so I will hold fast to the current routine until it inevitably has to change in a month or two. But because I love each new routine ( to its inevitable death) I will give it its due diligence here:

In the morning, I wake up between 6:30 and 7 to Tabitha calling out in half-wakefulness for "maaaaaammmma". I, being a really amazing mother, ignore her in the hopes that she will go back to sleep. If she doesn't than I stick the baby monitor under my pillow to muffle the sounds of her playing her "bedtime bear" ( a bear who sings a creepy song about a candle when you press its foot) over and over. I do this because I'm an AWESOME mom who doesn't want to just TURN OFF the monitor completely. I'm so attentive.

Finally, somewhere around 7:12 I will finally climb out of bed and go into Tabitha's room to release her from her crib prison. Not because I want to, but because I know that Ransom's amazing clock is going to turn green in one minute and he will RUN out of his room announcing "MY LIGHT TURNED ON!!!!" at top volume. Why do we set his clock to turn on at 7:13? Your guess is as good as mine, but clearly we don't have OCD tendencies or this would bother us all.

Then my children sit on the couch and watch their coveted 40 minutes of screen time for the day. It is a glorious and most-important 40 minutes of the day. In that time I do the following:
Make breakfast for my kids ( oatmeal and local honey 365 days a year!!!!!!! THIS NEVER CHANGES SO HELP US!! ) and coffee for myself. This is when I take vitamins and also do my oil pulling.

I then head to the couch for about 25 minutes ( at this point) of mostly uninterrupted Bible time. My kids are usually sitting at the table eating oatmeal as slowly as possible watching Little Bear, Daniel Tiger, Veggie Tales or the horribly loud and yet I still allow it Micky Mouse Club Road-rally. ( It is great that you can see the tv in the living room from our dining room table. I hope this always remains the same, otherwise the routine will have to change yet again....sigh)

Recently I found that if I put in headphones and turn the volume low enough so I can hear my children if they need me, but loud enough to mostly drown out the sounds of mickey mouse, then I can listen to praise music and it helps me focus on my Bible reading more than, say, Bob the Tomato and Little Bear and friends. My current jam is the Bethel Praise Music Pandora Station. I love Pandora more than, something where I've actually picked the music, because in a FEW SMALL TIMES in my life I like to be surprised. I just keep my Quiet Time supplies on the edge of the couch because I'm tidy like that. And I'm also lazy and I don't like to get up once I've sat down ( unless I'm doing a fitbit challenge in which case I'll run around the house a few times between each praise song. jk. or not). My current supplies, headphones, pen, $2 notebook for writing down prayers, Bible, and prayer card for 2015.

After my time asking God to help me live through today; it's basically 8am and I start pushing Ransom along in his slow oatmeal eating ways. I get out my kids clothes and Ransom gets dressed in the living room or in Tabitha's room while I get her dressed-because HE DOES NOT LIKE TO BE ALONE EVER EVER EVER AND AMEN. ( I remember going through this stage as a kid too, but boy is it difficult on the Mom end!). We head out the door from preschool at around 8:20 with my half-drunk coffee in tow. If I'm running that day then I usually grab a Zone protein bar and eat half of it before my run and then the other half after ( I am not a food in the morning person AT ALL! I've SO tried because I know its the most important meal of the day, but oh how I hate it. )
if its not a running day then I'll usually eat something along these lines when I get home from dropping off Ransom: Ezekiel Bread toasted with my faaaaavorite Trader Joes Peanut Butter on top with little Banana slices for sweetness.

And then the rest of the day begins, you know that part of the day that cannot be planned for and that usually ends up with you  going to Target, misjudging a parking spot and completely denting in the front of your brand-new mini van. *sigh*

A little look back...way back.

Hello friends! I hope you're all curled up by a fire tonight ( unless you're one of my NZ friends in the southern hemisphere in which case, go to the beach for me...thanks) and keeping warm because it seems like it is freezing EVERYWHERE. In fact, you actually KNOW it is cold when it gets cold in San Antonio too. If it makes it this far south then...bundle up, things are gonna get good.

So, I have a spare five minutes, if you haven't already, you should run over and read my letter to Tabitha on her second birthday.

And if you've really got a minute I'd like to take a little look back, if you don't mind, to one of the first posts I wrote after Tabitha was born. To me it is a reminder of the blessings that often come after the storm. And sometimes those storms last so long that we forget that the Lord really DOES bring relief.  I've also been thinking about it because I tried out a new doctor this week and I had to tell him my medical history. It sounds SO dramatic when you say it all out loud.  People, it has been two years and it is STILL so dramatic. And gosh darn it, I really should finish that book I've been writing for two years.


January 13th 2013
Something happened when Tabitha was about a day old that I think describes my general feeling the last week really really well....
It's important for me to document tha feeling because we got back to Georgia last night and REAL LIFE is about to set in in a major way ( like the fact that I'm writing this in the ER because I may have been bitten by a bat last night... That's right. A bat. Welcome home!! Let the games begin!) and I really want to hold on to the marvel of the end of our journey of having our twins.
As sad as I am about Priscilla, and as much as the grief for her is still a process. The celebration of Tabitha's life is nothing short of pure joy.
When I was still in the hospital, and our many visitors had all dispersed for a few minutes- and even Brett had stepped out to run an errand. I sat holding a post-feed baby. She had nestled into my arm and I was just sitting there thanking God for her Life, when the nurses aid came in to take my blood pressure. As she did her thing she said, "It feels good in here." And I said something about how the air conditioner was on... But she replied that no, it wasnt that. She looked down at us and said, "it feels peaceful."

She was so right. After nights when I literally used up tissue boxes, after being separated as a family for four months, after a month hospital stay and 3 months in the Ronald McDonald house... We are peaceful.
And I've been feeling that peace for days. ( minus our 24 hours in the NICU.. But that's another story). I have been delighting in our little answer to prayer. And how, despite her size. It's really not that little at all.
I am now struggling with the constant need of telling EVERYONE our story, so that EVERYONE will know what God has done for us.
This is a good problem to have.

Ch-ch-changes are a com in'

Well, here it is 2015! I'm currently sitting on my fireplace hearth getting as hot as possible without bursting into flames. Cold and rainy days like this make me remember why I love Texas. Texas in the winter. Not Texas in the summer. I reserve the right to complain come August.

So, here I sit, scrolling through social media as a way to distract me from the moaning coming from my 4 year olds room. He's clearly sleepy. He only does this when he's so tired he's tempted to actually go to sleep during rest time. And instead of just going with that urge he starts yelling that he's done with rest time. WOULD IT BE SO BAD TO JUST TAKE A NAP?!?!
I swear this kid has been afraid of "missing something" since he was born!

Anyway, social media is a flurry with people being introspective and optimistic about 2015. It's hard not to be isn't it? Looking back at the past 365 days and marveling at all that has happened: all the scars, all the victories, all the disappointment, all the tears, all the laughter...it's hard not to wonder what in the WORLD this next year will hold!

At the end of 2014 some coolish plans went into motion with some of our family members. The plans were so surprising, so completely crazy to us ( I haven't actually asked the people involved in the actual crazy plans if they had an inkling of what was going to happen in 2014...but for us, on the outside it was surprising and crazy and totally cool ) that it has gotten me thinking of ALL the crazy and surprising things that have happened to us over the years.
Here are some things I've most definitely said:

WOW. I can not believe this is happening.... That I live here. That I moved back here. How unfair this is.  That this hurts so much. That I am marrying you. That I work here. That I am standing here. That I am doing this. That I'm having a baby. That we live here. That you are my friend. That I am doing this. That you are doing that. That I am a part of this. That we are having twins. That this is happening to us. That we are going through this. That they are going through that. That we survived this. That she is here. That we live here! That we met you. That this might happen. That THAT happened. That we've seen this.

I'm pretty sure that is the makeup of our lives...the sentence "I can't believe..."
 Because life is a beautiful and complicated surprise. Sometimes the surprises are scary and awful sometimes they are the most amazing, beautiful things we've ever seen. Bottom line, you may think you know what this next year holds, but friends...I promise there will be surprises.

In 2015 we're doing some pretty crazy monumental things in the Wilson House. Because we always say, "Go big or go home." Actually...I've never said that, but roll with it. Because as it seems right now we're gonna rock "Change" this year. And not the Obama kind... Like REAL change.

That's right. My scariest word. The word that I try to avoid at ALL COSTS. It is my "word of the year". Change.

I hate change because it is so unpredictable. And I love predictable, especially if that leads to control. I looooove control.

And so, of course, this year seems really hard to me. Looking at all new and unpredictable things that are staring me down. BUT, if I just remember how truly wonderful a good surprise can be. And especially a God-shaped surprise. Well, then I get a little bit excited. And it makes me pray harder because I would really hate to ruin a perfectly good God-shaped-surprise with my very controlling-shaped-brain.

And just as a little reminder of how true this is: Let's just do a little case study SHALL WE!?! Read this post.  Which is what I wrote at the beginning of 2012. I thought the year was going to include a deployment for my husband and a lot of single parenting. That year turned out to hold no deployment, a very scary complicated pregnancy and a period of 4 months where I didn't parent AT. ALL. So there. January 2012 Abigail was not thinking about the right things! haha! The cool part though is that God DID provide a verse ( noted in that blog post) that turned out to be truly important and helpful through the difficult year ahead. So. there you go.

So, to start off 2015 with as much craziness and proof that I have no idea what this year will bring:

Surprise number one: We bought a car yesterday. It's a minivan. It seats EIGHT PEOPLE. And no. I'm not pregnant.

Reboot

The Christmas decorations inside the house are all put away and our house is back to a state of mostly organized. Ransom doesn't go back to school for another week and Brett is working tons over the next two weeks. And I'm, well, I'm seeking a recharge. Or a reStart. 

Friends, I didn't nail Christmas this year. Sure, I picked out some good gifts for people. I threw 2 Christmas parties. I made batch after batch of cookies for neighbors and friends. I sent Christmas cards in the timeliest fashion ever.  The hubs and I logged over 40 hours (!!!!) of driving over a one week period. But, now as I sit in the aftermath I do not see what I want to see: A focus on Christ and His incredible gift. 

It's humbling to see how easily I let this happen. I mock Elf on a Shelf ( sorry) every year but this year I basically did my own Abigail Version every day: "look and see what crazy mess Elf Abigail has gotten herself into today! she's forgotten Ransom's holiday program is today! Haha! She'll have to quickly rearrange the day to make sure they make it on time! How cute! She's lost her keys! What a rascal!" 

I scrambled to meet all sorts of Holiday Goals. And honestly there are a lot of those goals I would want to keep. Making those in our lives feel loved and special. Yea. I want to do that. I want Christmas to be magical and special for my kids. Yes. But there HAS to be a less over the top way of doing that! 

I'm writing this as a reminder. The year we spent cuddled down in the Ronald McDonald House was the simplest ( granted hardest in a lot of ways) Christmas we've ever spent. But Christ remained the center. Last year we were able to "add a little celebration" onto that previous year, which was sweet and just made it more special.  But this year we just added on and on and on. It became less sweet and more sickly. 

And so, I've confessed. I've admitted my fault and I'm moving forward. To help me get back on track, I've deleted all the social media off my phone, I'm journaling more. I'm working on my "prayer matters" card for 2015. And I'm pleading with the Lord to help me quiet my mind and soul. Something that comes soooo easily with two littles in the house! Haha! 

Exercising/ Abigail becomes obsessed

Guys. I'm competitive. Like horribly so. I can sometimes convince myself that "winning isn't important" and then I can somehow keep my craziness in check- but MOST of the time I know that "winning isn't important" is SO NOT TRUE and then I get all crazy and MUST WIN THE THINGS.

This has been to my advantage a few times: In school with grades. Competitive Swimming for 10 years. Winning "Lord of Cataan" at Fort Benning. 

Most of the time it is NOT to my advantage. ( Like wanting to WIN AT CHRISTMAS). But whatever....I recently found something that was absolutely PERFECT for channeling my crazy ways into something much more productive. 

The "activity tracker". There are tons of them on the market right now, but after doing a bit of research I decided on the Fitbit Zip . It's small and simple ( just like what I want to be! ha!) 

 I also decided, on a friends advice, to hit up the Ebay world to see if I could get one on the cheap. And ended up with 2 for $35 each, brand new! That's well under the current price ( around $45 or $50) !

( and if you're lucky the seller might send you candy!) 

So I would definitely take my advice and try Ebay before buying one anywhere else. What I don't advise you to do, however, is to be like Abigail and get impatient about being outbid every time and then bidding on FOUR at once and then having to PRAY you don't win ALL THE BIDS. And then thankfully only winning two and just giving the other one to your sister*.  Don't do that. 

OK, so now let me explain what happens. You stick this little tracker in your pocket or if you're like me and you ONLY WEAR YOGA PANTS with no pockets...then just clip it on your pants and BOOM you're in business! It starts counting your steps. 

Just tap the Fitbit and it'll tell you the time, how many calories you've burned, how far you've walked and how many steps you've taken. 

Then, you can get online or download the app to your smart phone and it'll keep you updated on extras like tracking exercise times, count calories and water intake...stuff like that. But all of that is not important. All that is truly important is making that ultimately daily steps goal. I set mine at 10k and while most days that isn't hard, sometimes I become TRULY obsessive about reaching my mark. 

here is a screen shot from my phone on a day when reaching 10k was NOT hard! 

We're talking walks around the block in the pitch black. Or going for runs on days you aren't scheduled to go for runs. We're also talking taking EACH article of clothing from the laundry basket to the closet ONE at a TIME from the living room so that it takes more steps. 

Basically its the best thing ever for crazy obsessive people. And, if competing against a little machine isn't enough for you. *Then get one for your sister who's also uber competitive and then start "challenges" ( a push of a button on the App) and start tracking her steps too....today is the last day of our five day challenge and, win or lose, I can't WAIT for it to be over! I'm so sore! I've been so active haha! 

As you can see I have become waaaay more active.  And therefore one more tick in the positive competitive category. 

Also, if you get a fitbit for Christmas or just for yourself off of Ebay, then become friends with me and I'll have yet another reason to walk around the house in circles every time I'm talking to someone on the phone. 

What is for Christmas....Tabitha

As with my last post, I will now regale you with the Christmas presents Tabitha is getting this year. She'll be 2 in January so bless her heart, gifts for her come around basically once a year.  Its rough having a birthday so close to Christmas, but we'll try to make it up to her! And bonus! All the fun things that I couldn't get her for Christmas because of my self-inflicted "Wear, Need, Read, Want" rules, I can just get her a few weeks later at her birthday ;-)
( way to ruin the point of the game there, Abigail!)

So, here's what our little almost-two-year-old is getting for Christmas this year! 

Wear: Unlike with her brother, Tabitha does not need anything in this department! In fact, thanks to the generosity of my sister and friends, I have only bought a few odds and ends for Tabitha in these two years of her life, and none of those odds and ends were because she really needed them! Girlfriend has clothes and shoes coming out of her ears! SO that said I decided to go with an "accessory" this year and I found the most fun thing a two year old girl could have: 

It's called a Poochie & Co Purse and in searching the internets to find a picture of the one I got for Tabitha I found that a real live celebrity is also a huge fan ( remember the adorable little girl from Beasts of the Southern Wilds? Or maybe you'll remember that she's the little girl from the upcoming remake of Annie coming out this Christmas? Yeah, Quvenzhané Wallis. ) Annnnyway, it makes me happy that my daughter is already going to have a celebrity purse! hahaha! 

In the Need category this year, I went around and around. There are a lot of great toys that can be helpful in teaching your kids all sorts of important things that you feel like they "Need". But I finally decided on this game Barnyard Bingo Game. Because she's played with it at Speech Therapy and she's totally into it.  The best part is that the game can be used "as is" ( according to the rules) but I think it also has a lot of potential for other forms of play which is important when we purchase just about anything around here. But just to prove to you Tabitha's enjoyment. I took a video of her at Speech Therapy today: 

When it came to Tabitha's Read book this year, I went with something I knew we'd both love but that would also continue to help Tabitha with her talking. For whatever reason nothing promotes Tabitha speaking quite like Leslie Patricelli books. She LOVES them! And honestly, I do too! They are funny and fast and just enough quirky!  Tabitha is getting this one for Christmas: 

And now for Want: 

Eeeeek! Once again I went and bought something on sale waaaaay ages ago and I've been DYING for Christmas to come so I can give it to Tabitha! I purchased this on Zulily  for next to nothing way back this summer! (!!)  and now I'll finally get to give it to her! 

Green toys tea set

Having to watch her put her stuffed animals and dolls at their tiny doll table and feed them with random cups has been KILLING ME ;-) 

So there you have it! That's what Tabitha is getting for Christmas! So, I'm curious, what are your little girls getting this year? Anything you're super excited about like I am? 

What's for Christmas.....Ransom

Hey friends! It's that time of year! Where I tell you what my kids are getting for Christmas this year! I know you've just been dying to know!

Like I've said before I've implemented the important " Need, Read, Wear, Want" rule with our kids to keep the buying under control. However, for the first time this year I had a little bit of a hard time sticking to my "categories" but I did it! So here goes!

This year Ransom is a 4.  A very rascally 4 who has grown and grown and is sitting tall in the 90th percentile in height and its been hard to keep him in clothes. He's also been dominating his Balance Bike for a few years now and has been asking for a big boy bike for a while now. As for his wants, well, they are ever changing and EVER GROWING. Maybe its just my 4 year old but the kid tells me what he wants for his "birthday" almost every day. *sigh*

So let's start with wear:
I started by getting him these pretty sweet PJs when they were on sale a few months ago.  :

Stormtrooper PJs 

Because it is EMBARRASSING what Ransom wears to bed these days....usually either too tight/too small PJs or giant old T-shirts. The sad thing is, he LOVES PJs and its been hard on him to not have cooler ones, or at least having his cooler PJs be super de duper tight. 

Unfortunately Ransom's Need is also in the "Wear" category. I don't know how to get around this and I feel semi bad about it. I usually try to make the "Need" also something that he'd want  but this kid needs new clothes BADLY. So hopefully long-sleeved t-shirts and sweatshirts covered in monster trucks and spots logos will make him happy enough.  ( I hit up the $3.88 section in Walmart, especially since he'll probably just out grow them all in 2 minutes anyway). 

Want: So HOPEFULLY we will make up for the "Need" present not being the coolest with this present: 

Being as cheap as ever, we got it for a sweet deal at Wal-Mart because it was missing a handlebar grip that we could easily replace. However, if you're looking for a Hot Wheels 16" for a little dude, you can also get it here. 

And then on to the Read: This year I went with something a bit different. Ransom has started going to "big church" with us and has a little backpack full of "quiet entertainment" and I wanted something that he could look at for a long time but would not need it read to him necessarily. So I found this book that I think will fit the bill.  I haven't gotten it yet so I'll let you know if I like the pictures or not!

Seek and Find Bible Stories 

Merry Christmas to Ransom!You may notice I'm just not that into his presents this year, and that makes me sad, but I do hope he loves his Bike ( we're going to try to skip right over training wheels so wish us luck!) So tell me, what are your little boys getting this year? Anything you're super excited about?

Preschool Party Prep

Well friends, we're well in to December and basically that means that I've got about FIVE blog posts I've been writing in my head and quite literally ZERO time to write them. Every time I get on the computer I end up scouring the internets for the perfect Christmas presents for various nieces and nephews. I really love giving presents. Mostly because I like to WIN at Christmas.

I want the present recipient to say, "Wow, Abigail just WON CHRISTMAS this year!"
Which. Well. Is the most selfish reason for giving presents ever.  So you know, I've basically lost the reason for the season. ;-) Interventions can be scheduled for Jan. 6th and onward. Inquires below.

Anyway, today I made the time to post-mostly because I've hit a little bump in the present buying road.-I only have 3 presents to go. The hardest people to buy presents for.  ( I'm looking at you MOM) So I'm taking a break to cleanse my present pallet and hopefully return with renewed vigor.

ALSO I'm posting today because I really really need your help! I'm in charge of Ransom's class Christmas preschool class party which I thought other parents would be helping with, but his class' parents have zero interest in helping out this year and there is only one volunteering parent per party and I guess all the other parents are just riding the wave of the rest of us this year. Meaning, I'm ON MY OWN. Which, you know, is kinda cool because I like to be in charge, but its kinda not cool because, you know, MONEY.  So I've already got my menu set. ( which side note, I'll have you know that I thought up these ideas ALL ON MY OWN while sitting in the pick up line at school but then OF COURSE as soon as I googled them PINTEREST insisted that other people had ALREADY come up with these great ideas and gone so far as to take pictures and post them. BUT I'd still like for you to all give me creative credit, ok?!)

But now that I've got the lunch taken care of, and I figure I'll have cookie decorating as the craft. BOOM. DONE.  But there's ONE MORE THING I'd like to do. And it's mostly all for myself. ( *Insert living my dreams here*) I'd like to read them a Christmas Story.

And here's where YOU come in!! What are your favorite children's books to read out loud to kiddos?! I am kinda a snob! I insist on good content plus good pictures. So, you know, I'm picky!.

Also, just to make you think harder please just leave out the books that include Santa. I don't have an agenda here, just that I feel like we're already over-Santa-ed. So lets just stick to other Christmas Tropes, ok? So now that've made all my demands! I hope I haven't scared you from sharing your own favorite Christmas books with me! I've got a little list going but I am curious to see what you guys will come up with and then maybe I'll share what I have so far! But so that I don't make you do ALL the work:  My own personal favorite is a little old for preschoolers but when I saw it on a pile of books at the library I snapped it up like a long lost friend! Love, love, LOVE this book!  Go check it out Apple Tree Christmas by Trinka Hakes Noble it is beautiful in every way. :

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The library plot

Raise your hand if you find it hard to find friends these days. Is it just me? Where was I when they were handing out the friendship bracelets?
 Oh, that's right, I was moving every other year as an Army wife....I was so blessed during all those years that I can now count a best friend in almost every post...so my besties are now spread across the country. Which is great and all...but some times you want someone to look you in the eye across the table and be all, "you have baby snot on your sweater...deal with that situation."

But now that I find myself in a less and less military environment, i.e. everyone else isn't in the same boat, I'm starting to realize that its a stone-cold world out there where apparently everyone else has already made out their BFF list and there are no blank spaces ( Oh, wait, is that why I don't have friends? That I just put in a Taylor Swift reference and no one notice?!?)

Annnnywho, something funny happened this year that I just HAVE TO TELL YOU.. I was visiting my home town and enjoying some Mommy time with my sister and our kids. We'd just attended a super disappointing story time at the local library and were now letting our kids run havoc at a nearby gym when another mom approached us. We made conversation and within minutes she was getting my sisters details.  And I was super impressed/jealous. I'd been trying to break into the Mommy scene at my own local libraries, parks, mall play areas and chickfilas and I'd gotten NADA. And here my sister was scoring a new friend in MINUTES. Whaaaaaa?!?!
But, within hours my sister texted me to say that the "new friend" had added her on Facebook and low and beyond she was one of those "sellers"....you know, one of those chicks that "works from her home" by throwing parties, doing before and afters on her fb page and making her instagram a variable who's who of giveaways...you know the girl.*
And in that moment we both knew it was a sham. It turned out it WASN'T any easier in my sister's town than in mine, she'd just come in contact with a chick who needed a few more buyers for her monthly balance.

We laughed, we made some jokes to make us feel better and we returned to our lives of wiping snot and packing cheerios to go.

AND THEN....I was at my own local library ( why is it always the library?!?! Is it in a handbook or something!??) and I started to make conversation with a girl who was also in the kids section with her own littles. And I was super excited and surprised at how receptive she was! She didn't respond in one word responses and she didn't exit for "nap time" at the first opportunity, in fact, SHE quickly asked for MY number! "Wow!" I thought, I've finally done it! I've finally made another mommy friend "Out in the wild."

And then. AND THEN. She actually CALLED ME. Like within the first 24 hours! CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS!?!? I was shocked  and not a little bit flattered. I had clearly rocked the library banter and she was wanting more! Sadly I was at one of those inflatable lands where kids jump around on giant balloons and us parents stand around and pray that it gets all the energy out so that we all get to sleep in the next day.... SO I couldn't hear her call and so I called her back as soon as I could....annnnnnd I got her voice mail....annnnnd it went something like this:

"You've reached SO and So, your friendly neighborhood Blah-blah consultant! I can't come to the phone right now but leave a message, I'll get back to you!!! BEEEEEEEEP"

And so I knew it had happened.

I had been duped. I had fallen for the ol' library friend scam.
 So when, a few weeks later and I'd actually ignored the earlier warning signs and actually met for a play date and then a few days later I was politely propositioned to "throw a fun party for all my friends where we could sell a little blah blah!" I knew I only had myself to blame.

Of course, the joke was firmly on the fake friend....I didn't have any friends to invite to such a party, so HA HA! JOKES ON YOU GIRL!

So there it is. There's my warning/plea. I am going to continue to try to make Friends out there in the world ( outside of  the comfy Military bubble) and hopefully one day I'll actually meet someone who thinks me and my ( ADORABLE AND ENTERTAINING and MOSTLY WELL BEHAVED) littles are worth hanging out with, and that I won't have to buy a product for them to think so.


* P.S. I actually have friends who sell all kinds of great products from their home. Beachbody, DoTerra, Mary Kay...you name it! And many of you have asked me to buy your products and/or throw a party...and I've LOVED supporting you...this is no way a judgment on you or your businesses. I respect your willingness to get out there and make some monies...I also doubt you do anything like this story to make said money so don't worry, this isn't about you! :-) xox