Providence

It use to be that when I heard the word "providence," my mind immediately thought of luck or coincidence. Over the past few months (thanks to a series by Pastor Steve), I have discovered that for a Christian (and maybe even for a non-Christian, but that would be another topic altogether) Providence can be God's hand moving in a situation.

Take today, for instance...I was catching up on reading blogs and checked in on a blog friend who is expecting a baby and has been put on bed rest. She needs help with meals, childcare, and--most of all--prayer. While reading, I was reminded that I had extra chili in the freezer that I made on Sunday.

Then there was the cake...I had made it to take to a Mom's Bible Study this morning which I ended up not attending, so that was to go too.

Finally, I emailed to see if they needed any "staples" from the store, and they did: a gallon of Vitamin D milk. It "just so happened" that I had a full gallon of Vitamin D milk (minus the 1/2 cup we tried to give Madelyn last week) that was going to spoil because she will not drink it...yet.

How cool is that? I was amazed (I know, I shouldn't have been amazed, since this is God we're talking about...but I was) to see first hand how God provided and met needs perfectly because He knew they existed for before I even had a clue. What a blessing, and what a reminder of God's faithfulness and promise of provision in my life as well. It reminds me of my favorite hymn:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Catching Up

Elisha and I made homemade candy turtles last week.

His favorite part by far was licking the spoon.

The final product

Elisha's new obsession is Lighting McQueen from the movie "Cars."

He often pretends to be "Lightning" zooming around our house.

Jim with the kids

Madelyn sporting her hip Old Navy outfit that Uncle Joel got her for Christmas

We're trying some new foods...just couldn't pass up this photo op

She still loves baths

C'mon Anon!

This post is for Anon...so that she will have a post with her name in the title and, more importantly, to encourage her to post more often and to leave more than one word comments. I mean, what exactly is *interesting*? The idea for a business called "OCD" or the fact that I organize my closets and leave my junk pile out in the open or that we have bright red carpet in a room. C'mon!

OCD

My friend Ronda and I considered starting an organizing business a couple of years ago. Her husband Dave suggested we call it "OCD: Organization, Color & Design. I like that idea...very creative. And, who knows, some day we may actually do it! Until then, here is the organization, color and design of Elisha's room.

Have I mentioned my passion for Rubbermaid? At least part of my Christmas money always seems to help supply our family with a plethora of containers for storing toys, camping equipment, shoes, etc... This year, I focused on the kids' toys. I think we are almost set! Now if I could just find time to label everything with my label maker...



This is a view of Elisha's room from his doorway.



This view is from his bed.



This is a view from "the pile." (See below.)



The pile: This is the *only* disorganized part of our house (except the attic and garage, which are not actually disorganized but mostly filled with old boxes that need to be trashed.) Some people prefer to hide their clutter in a closet or drawer. I, on the other hand, want my drawers and closets to be "perfect" so I use a corner or my son's room. Weird, huh? These boxes contain papers and files from when we worked at CWC. There are things I/we want to save, so we need a block of time to sort and pitch stuff. (Yes, we've been out of paid church ministry for almost 2 years now. Sad that these are still here.)



So, that's it: Elisha's new room. Sorry we don't have any birthday pictures to post. The batteries on our camera went out (of course), so we have mostly video that needs to be downloaded into you-tube or something.

Trains and Change

Semi-useless trivia: Although the words of my title do not rhyme exactly, they are called "slant rhyme," a fact which my English Literature major brother would be so proud that I shared (I think). :)

We are still having fun with the Mac; but I didn't like opening our blog and seeing photos of a computer, no matter how small and cute it is.

Jim and I traded rooms with Elisha last week. We had a huge room with space we didn't need (all we need is room for a bed). His room - or at least floor space - was getting smaller and smaller, thanks to his growing collection of trains, train track, and other train paraphanelia. I intend to eventually post pictures of the freshly organized closets and Rubbermaid storage containers; but until then, here is a glimpse of one of Jim and Elisha's recent train creations.




Change is in the air for our "baby" girl...we looked in the living room a couple of nights ago to see Madelyn STANDING UP in her walker! I stayed nearby while Jim grabbed a camera to capture the moment. I guess this means no more corralling her that way. We still have her Pack and Play; but if she learns how to crawl out of that, we're in trouble because I'm sure her crib will be next.

Our Mac Mini

About 8 months ago our computer died, and we needed a new one. We ended up finding a great deal on a nice HP and were very happy with our purchase....until recently. Jim has a good friend who has a MAC who has brainwashed (just kidding, Nate) him with the amazing abilities the MAC has. We ordered cool family calendars on their MAC. We have seen how easy it is to chat online on their MAC. And we have heard stories of how worry-free owning a MAC is. (We also watched all of the MAC commercials on the web - hilarious!)

So, we got a MAC. This week. We sold our HP (which is why I have not been blogging as much as usual), and Jim used his Christmas money to buy a MAC. Here is what I find amazing so far: its size. Just look at how tiny it is...especially compared to our old computer. Pretty amazing, if you ask me.

I'm sure I will find more things that I love about our MAC on which to report, but let me pledge that no matter how fantastic I think our MAC is, I will not brag and put down PC owners (like some may do). I mean, it's not like I CREATED the MAC or have any rights to their capablities. I'm just a happy owner of one...for now.

Our *old* HP




Our brand new MAC

Help the Hummels

Find out how you can be part of our effort to help the Hummels! Go to Keetha's blog for details of how you can be involved!

Guess What - Part 3

For the past year or so, I have been growing my hair out for Locks of Love, and organization that takes hair donation to make wigs for people (children, I think) who have lost their hair due to cancer or other diseases. To qualify, you must have 10 inches of hair to cut and donate. For the past few months, I have been pulling back my hair (sometimes straightening it with a blow dryer even) and having Jim measure it to see how much longer I had to go.

I recently discovered that Pantene accepts donations of hair that are 8 inches or more. This was great news to me because I had 8 inches! (9 to be more exact). So yesterday I called my hair dresser, Kathleen and told her I was ready. Fortunately she had an appointment today at 4! I was a bit nervous, but I love it! I think if I had waited much longer, they would have had to throw it out instead of using it for a wig (which hopefully they can). And just think how much I will save on hair products.

Guess What - Part 2

Before

During

After

Guess What - Part 1

Anyone know what this means...?

Maddie on the Move

Anyone who has tried to photograph a young child will appreciate this photo sequence. Every decent photo that ends up on our blog represents several others that were taken and discarded. Now that Madelyn can crawl, we find it even more of a challenge to get a good shot...and that Santa dress was so cute!

Not quite what I was hoping for

Where's Maddie?

There she goes again

Let's check out this tree

Anon tries to help

Made you blink

I think I'll come see you, mom

Can you reach with the other arm, Madelyn?

Getting closer...

Finally, a decent shot!

Anyone who has tried to photograph a young child will appreciate this photo sequence. Every decent photo that ends up on our blog represents several others that were taken and discarded. Now that Madelyn can crawl, we find it even more of a challenge to get a good shot...and that Santa dress was so cute!

Merry Christmas!

Just a few photos of our Christmas morning...

Our tradition is to give the kids three presents each to symbolize the three gifts Jesus received from the magi. With the plethora of gifts from grandparents, uncles, aunts and friends, they don't feel like they're missing anything, I guarantee.

Madelyn received a set of hat a mittens, a Boz DVD,
and a set of Tupperware sippy cups with lids.

Elisha opened a set of hat and mittens,
a Larry-Boy Car, and a telescope.

Madelyn Standin'

Madelyn has been trying to pull up for awhile now. She might have succeeded more often if her overprotective mother would let her try more without worrying about her falling down or losing her balance and hitting her chin or head. I tried to capture a photo yesterday but ended up with a bunch of her holding on to furniture but never standing. This morning provided a new opportunity and I did it. What a big (little) girl! :)

Our Dictatorship: When The Majority Doesn't Rule

I feel like a goof...asking you all for your vote and not going with the majority; but I just couldn't do it. The outside photo had the perfect background and all, but it wasn't the best picture of our family (of any of us, actually). I like this one, and it looks even better after a couple of adjustments in PhotoShop (less contrast to tone down the glare on our faces and cropping out our feet). So, you can either print out our family card like Kelley suggested (hilarious) or wait to see if you get one in the mail. Don't hold your breath because they might not get mailed out for a week or so. :)

The Mustang

Jim's brother came to visit two weekends ago
and drove his cool new Mustang up from Texas.
Thank goodness Elisha can only pose in the front seat!

All Dressed Up

Just to give credit (and advertising) where credit is due, our friend and photographer Christy Miller captured these photos of the kids - an amazing feat considering it was after a morning at church and before lunch. The photography is great, but it's sad that this was the best we could get Elisha to smile and pose. Of course, this was also after a couple dozen family shots, so maybe I shouldn't complain. I'm still thinking of appropriate captions for some...

"Classic" Madelyn

"Classic" Elisha

Just to give credit (and advertising) where credit is due, our friend and photographer Christy Miller captured these photos of the kids - an amazing feat considering it was after a morning at church and before lunch. The photography is great, but it's sad that this was the best we could get Elisha to smile and pose. Of course, this was also after a couple dozen family shots, so maybe I shouldn't complain. I'm still thinking of appropriate captions...