Here we are in a new year and I have yet to stop by my own blog to say anything. Hmm. I don't get it either.
As usual, I'm living it up over on Instagram. I'm involved with a great photo challenge this month as part of the #knittogetherbyadoption "group." It's been really challenging me to readdress some of the things I've learned over the years through our adoption journey and giving me a lot of material to write about. If it wasn't an Instagram challenge, I'd probably make better use of my blog space writing it out here. Anyway, if you click the square camera button on the right, you can check out some of those posts if you're in the mood for reading more about our adoption experiences.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how S and I were planning to visit New England so she could visit with her birthmother and we could see some of our friends who still live there. Well, plans changed and after S left, we didn't have a lot of motivation for me to go off to New England alone.
So instead, we decided to use the prearranged days off for a little family trip, which included our friends, KF, AF and SF, as well as AF's good friend, AB. There were ten of us in all and so we rented a roomy condo just north of Durango, Colorado and spent a long weekend up there together.
I love to know that we are raising kids who seek out pure stuff to put in their eyes and ears. Let's face it, there is plenty of impurities in this world and they are inundated with that every day whether they seek it or not. Sometimes the darkness seems appealing and I'm not saying that our kids don't ever seek that stuff out for themselves -- we live in a sinful world and we all fall into temptation at times.
But this post is about an awesome moment I had with H this morning. He was listening to the radio through his iPod this morning and came running into me (writing the end of the year questionnaire for them to complete today -- nothing like last minute, ha) and asked me to listen to a song that was on at the moment.
In classic idiot-mom form, I said to him, "Do I have to do this right now? I'm trying to finish my stuff up."
For Mother's Day. my family got me, among other things, the new WOW 2012 CD compilation. I love the WOW CDs because they are like a compilation of my favorite songs from the year (last year).
I got through listening to disc two in the set today while driving N to school and near the end was the bonus track. The song is I Wonder by Leeland.
Honestly, I'd never heard of this group until today. Now, I can't wait to look for more of their songs.
There is something about this song, I Wonder, that because of the moment or where it caught me in my train of thought that just really moved me. I love the vulnerability of the lyrics and the music and now I'm anxious to hear my husband sing this song in his style and voice.
To me, the best songs are only made better by listening to him sing them. So hopefully, he'll jump at the opportunity to impress me (ha -- he does that every day) and learn this song. I'm hopefully anticipating the results.
In the meantime, here is the official video of the song to tide me over...
Listen. Enjoy. Don't mind the background people paid to sway (or so it seems in my cynical heart).
Update: I had heard of Leeland, I just didn't know it! They sing Follow You featuring Brandon Heath (another favorite of mine). See Leeland's website here. Take the About tab to read about their background. The three on stools (in video above) are siblings. How cool.
Say what you will about Amy Grant, but she was one of the first contemporary Christian artists and my preference for that kind of music is largely based on listening to her as a teenager (and Michael W. Smith). I can still go back to her early songs and just really reflect on points in my life where her music and life impacted me greatly.
Right now, she's got a new song out on the radio and once again, it matches me in this season of life. It's a great reminder for us as mamas (and as wives, daughters, sisters and friends). I heard that Amy wrote this song as a reminder for herself. Like her, I am definitely wired to please and I have to constantly remind myself of the theme in this song and that is that grace is given freely -- we cannot earn it.
Here's a video of Don't Try So Hard by Amy Grant for you...
In an effort to quickly recap our very busy weekend (and Monday), I'm combining three big events and a trip to the zoo into one post. Sad, I know, but it's this or wait a long time because I still have makeup posts to do from months ago (it seems).
1. Graduation
The day we've been waiting for finally arrived. First of all, let me just say that without my husband, my extended family and my very helpful and kind friends, this day would have been a disaster in the making! First of all, some public thank you's ...
I've frequently quoted the phrase, "Sanity is way overrated," in response to how I deal with my life at times. Today, was another testament to why that philosophy is a good one.
Z was having some trouble and I was getting frustrated. He'd already bitten a brother (yes, he's still 11) and made the other kids pretty upset and so I sent him outside to play. I did go out and talk to him a couple times to try to get him to calm down, but nothing was really working.
My friend, KF stopped by (for a quick three-hour visit ... I do like her for sure!) and she helped me cope with my frustration over Z's building temper. He doesn't like to be forced to be outside even though he's my most outdoorsy kid. But sometimes, I feel like it's better to put a door between he and I when he's acting up -- Mama needs some time out, too.
I pray you do not feel alone this Easter Sunday and that you will gather with others in love to celebrate this wonderful holiday together.
For those of you who are unable to gather together, you are never alone. Christ our Lord is your Father and Friend, with you always. I pray you know him well!
I can't believe I am posting three days of Lent Thankfulness in one post. This is so unlike me. But it's been that kind of week so far.
So here we go...
Day 13, Monday: I'm going to borrow my sister's answer for this one and tell you that, I, too, was thankful this day for our son, Z. He turned eleven! I've even updated my side bar three days later.
My friend, KF -- a fellow homeschooling mom -- sent me a link to the video I'll share with you below.
If you've never heard of TED University, it's a great program that unites a variety of schools of thought and brings them together under one umbrella (TED) to educate and inform the world in generally, brief, informative (sometimes entertaining) talks. C has been watching them regularly for a while and so he first introduced me to TED. Find the talks online or even on Netflix, if you have an account. There are probably DVD's available, too.
But this video, made at a TED event, features a speaker who is just 13 years old. He talks about what he refers to as Hackschooling. He never says he's homeschooled, but he does talk about being removed from the traditional school system when he was nine. When you watch his presentation -- which I highly recommend you do -- you realize that his schooling usually keeps him away from home most days.
Once again, the day of love is upon us and once again, I allowed too many things to get in my way. So my Valentine's cards are still sitting on my desk, unsigned, unmailed. Just like last year.
I haven't seen my computer much over the past week. I think Christmastime keeps me pretty busy doing a lot of other stuff (so I have more I can write about here?), so please don't give up on me. As things settle down, I'll get back to posting more regularly ... but for now, I'll post when I have a free moment.
Sometimes I find myself in a situation that requires my inner McGyver to come to the surface to save the day. Today, was one of those days. While I'm almost embarrassed to write about this story, I was so pleased with the results that it would be a shame not to document the success.
Plus, I already told the child's mother and she laughed about it, so I guess I'm clear to tell you about it here.
I am just sitting down at my computer for the first time since Friday. I am excited to tell you about our weekend. What a fun way to begin our December!
Okay, so I saw this on one of the other blogs I follow, but I just have to put a link to it here so I can reflect back on it repeatedly. Also, some of my readers might like this video -- whether you are parents or not.
Not every lyric or rhyme fits our family in its current season (like the stuff about toddlers -- though we do have a borrowed one in the house every day), but that time when ours were that age was not so long ago that I've forgotten. And regardless of the age of our kids, some of this still totally applies. Ha.
I'm so in love with the World Edition of Chris Tomlin's How Great is Our God. Watch the video below and tell me it would not be awesome to witness this live.
Anyway, it's a cool way to introduce the kids to some foreign languages to go along with our geography lessons, too. Find the lyrics in their native languages here.
There's a short article here that explains the languages represented in this edition.
Our daughter, S, told me about this song yesterday and I hadn't heard it before. I love the lyrics, the sound of the song and even the simple idea behind the video. Take a look...
It's a Monday and I am just really not usually a fan of Mondays. But this is the day the Lord has made and I'm trying to keep things in perspective. Each new day has the hope of "anything is possible." Sometimes, it's easy to forget that.
On my way to dropping off my nieces at their schools this morning, this song came on the radio and it just really hit me in a precise moment when I needed to hear it, I suppose, and suddenly I was crying my eyes out at the lyrics.
