A Happy Heart

If being almost 3 is any indication of what 13 will be like, we are probably in for a lot of emoting in this house! Lately, I find myself having a lot of conversations about speaking kindly and softly versus ugly. Instead of "I HAVE BOOGERS!!!", we give preference to, "Mommy, could I have a tissue please?" Just tonight, I was tempted to reserve The Boy Who Cried "Wolf!" story from the library so we can talk about appropriate times to cry versus minute by minute whining. I know this is normal for her age and, unfortunately, way too much the norm for me. I have been attending a Wednesday night class at SOLD on the book Gospel-Powered Parenting by Bill Farley. The book along with the discussion and teaching in the class has been so helpful to me. I have felt like I was just addressing the outward behaviors without reaching the heart. Yet, I didn't feel right saying "That makes Jesus sad when you do __." Not that it is necessarily wrong to say that. Just that it felt more like it was still just addressing the surface. The book has just deepened my understanding of how the Gospel shapes and transforms our parenting.

Yesterday, Amity and I visited Chapel School. Mrs. Cox did the opening Bible story and talked about the prophet Jeremiah. She brought poopy diapers in a ziploc bag and talked about how stinky they were. She said that our sin is like stinky diapers to God and we are powerless to get rid of our own stinkiness. He has to remove that stinkiness and give us fresh "diapers". Her explanation of the symbolism was much better than mine but Amity and I have talked about it a few times since then.

Tonight, our family worship was ended early because of some issue that I have already forgotten that ended with Amity losing all semblance of self-control. We walked to their room and I put them in bed and then knelt by her bed and hugged her and talked about why we stopped. We talked about stinky sin and how it is so hard to talk with a kind voice all the time, even for Mommy. I got up to leave her and she said, "Mommy, will you pray for me?" I said "Sure! What do you want me to pray for?" "That I will have a happy heart!" BE STILL MY HEART! I know tomorrow will bring many more boogers and tears and stinky sin but it is so encouraging to see Christ's fruit in a young heart.

"If my heart is the source of my sin problem, then lasting change must always travel through the pathway of my heart. It is not enough to alter my behavior or change my circumstances. Christ transforms people by radically changing their hearts." --Paul Tripp

Color Girl

Amity is very into coloring these days. She really tries to color inside the lines and she is very creative in choosing what color(s) to use.

Some days...

Some days, it's hard to keep even the play kitchen organized and clean!

Car Wash

After two weeks of ice and snow, Dennis decided to use the sunny afternoon to wash the truck and van. Amity was so excited to help and she stayed working with him the whole time.

Snowed In Day #4 - Afternoon

When the girls woke up from their nap, we bundled them up and headed outside.  I think we definitely need to look into some used snow gear at next year's consignment sale.  We are woefully unprepared but I just layered Vivien's pajamas over her clothes and then added more clothes and a jacket.  

 She was too bundled up and too confused to move but she was still a good sport.

 Speaking of good sport...

Amity didn't like wearing her mittens because she couldn't do anything with them on but she didn't like having cold hands either.

I suggested to Dennis that he show Amity how to make a snowangel.  She watched him but decided to forego the wet pants.

These are more pictures from this morning's walk to the Parkers'.  Dennis told Amity to "walk in his footprints".  So this afternoon, she kept telling me to "walk in my footprints".

Snowed In Day #4 - Lunch

Since work was cancelled, I thought I needed to run up to the office to pick up the materials I needed for curriculum writing.  Dennis thought we should make an adventure of it and go for a family field trip.  But, when we almost got stuck in the snow at the end of our street, Dennis decided that we were not heading for Mesquite.  Instead, we stopped at the Redbox and headed over to Casa Linda to try out Fat Daddy's Burgers for the first time. 

Dennis wanted me to pack provisions and blankets just in case we got stuck.  The girls were in awe of all of the white covering our city.

Fat Daddy's was a hit!  It was a perfect first outing of the week and they gave us free hot chocolate.  Amity really liked hers on ice!

SNOWED In Day #4 - Morning

Even though the weatherman was predicting snow for last night, we thought surely it wouldn't be too bad and we would be back at school this morning.  The snow started coming down at midnight and we woke up to this in our backyard:

So two little girls got to spend one more morning in pajamas.

When Dennis went across the street to pick up the Parkers' mail, Amity got to go outside for the first time in four days. 

Too cute!

Our house from the opposite corner.  Do we really live in Dallas?

 

Iced-In Day #3 - Afternoon

I ventured out of the house for the first time since Monday today.  During the girls' naptime, I headed out to Walgreens, CVS, and Albertsons.  When I got home, I asked Amity to deliver all of these things to the girls'/guest bathroom.  I later discovered this:

I think she might be just a little orderly!  She was not very happy when I began putting them away. 

On my way down our street, I saw our neighbor Kim trying to break up the ice in her driveway.  She hadn't been able to get into work all week because of the ice.  I mentioned it to Dennis when I came in and, minutes later, he was headed across the street with her shovel.  What a great guy!

 With Vivien playing in her pack and play in her room, Amity and I had some time for some "big girl" crafts.  I cut up a little snowman and she glued it down by herself.

 No craft is fun without glitter!

Then I gave Amity another try with the scissors and this time she got it!  She was so proud and happily sat cutting at the table while I got dinner ready.

For dessert, we enjoyed some fireplace s'mores.

Yum!

Not so sure!

 

Iced-In Day #3 - Morning

In the magazines, they are always making suggestions about how to make food "cute". I don't think my food will ever make a magazine but I tried and Amity liked. When I went in to wake her up this morning and told her that I had made her a special treat, she asked, "Is it a special chocolate M&M treat?" That's my girl!

I made this map for Amity last night. I figured we needed something to balance out all of the pink tutus and baby dolls. It was the first thing she wanted to play with today during her room time.

We have watched a few more shows this week than usual. Right here, the girls were entranced with Barney.

Iced-In Day #2 - Afternoon

After naptime, Vivien discovered the toy boxes for the first time without help and began finding some goodies. Notice that she is still in her jammies. She stayed in those jammies all day until bathtime when we promptly put on some clean jammies. What a life!

Dennis ventured outside for the first time to break the ice off of our driveway. I am so glad I am a girl! I think I would rather go through labor than do this kind of stuff in the cold (with an epidural, of course!). Afterwards, he made a trip to the grocery store to get the three things on my list (bananas, cheese, and medicine) along with A LOT of other "fun" foods.

The night for the girls ended with bathtime and smelling good. I love to hear Dennis giving them a bath while I wash the dishes. Some day I will have to record the songs he sings to them and the conversations they have!

Iced-In Day #2 - Morning

Our second day of the icestorm started out a little interesting! When you aren't leaving the house, you let the two-year-old make all fashion decisions.

The same sweet two-year-old is really learning to be a big sister and play with the little one.

We even decided to let the little one have a try at coloring. She never really got anything on the paper but she was so proud to be sitting at the table with her big sister.

I also pulled out the puzzles for the first time with Vivien. She was more into taking the pieces out than putting them back in.