zazzert

ben and i had the privilege of having some dear friends of ours in town this last week. daniel and stacey woodall.

unfortunately, i had to work the majority of the time.

and unfortunately, i got strep a couple days after they got here. i was pretty much swallowing shards of glass the whole time and feeling terrible that they, and their sweet 11 month old were in close proximity to my stupid, sick breath.

they were so generous to our family while they were here.

they were a massive blessing.

i’m gonna have to write about it later.

we’ll call their stay another

“stone”

another stone that God is setting up in our lives, reminding us that he is writing a story of provision and abundance in our lives. even when our circumstances appear bleak.

between me working 34 hours this week and getting sick, i barely had time to play with em.

after our sweet company left, ben told me to just sleep all day while he took emri on an adventure.

benjamin scott myers, you are so hot right now.

so i got to snuggle up and sleep/watch episodes of the voice on my computer.

after a long while, i heard em and ben walking up the front porch.

i heard emri’s sweet little voice chatting to her daddy.

i missed her.

as soon as she walked in the door she begged me to make zazzert (dessert) with her.

that is the last thing my body wanted to do. but i couldn’t resist.

okay em, lets make zazzert! you pick what you want to make

 ”oh my gosh. i’m so esited. this is the best in my whole world. oh my gosh, i cannot believe this!”

words pouring out of emri’s mouth as we were what she calls, “making together”

some of her small talk during dessert making…

“i love it when decker stares at me. i just love it. but i don’t like it when he eats stuff. when he eats stuff, then we need to be mean to him, right mom?”

so here are a few pictures.

we decided to make rainbow parfaits.

we put yellow, pink, and purple food coloring in the bottom of three different bowls. we poured the mixture into each bowl and em got to stir it until it turned a bright color. she loved it.

our zazzert!

and because decker is always standing by, i took a pic of him and the whatever random purple something that was on his nose.

oh decker, you naughty stinker. what did you get into?

***

snow day!

how lucky we are.

this morning everything is covered in white.

my neighbor, emily sent me this link today.

http://reallyquitelucky.blogspot.com/2010/01/kid-activity-for-snow-days.html

with an invitation to come play out in the snow.

emri was so excited.

she woke up this morning saying,

“its christmas! its christmas!”

we searched our house for spray bottles and squeezer bottles.

we poured water in the bottles with some food coloring: purple, pink, blue, red, and yellow (by the way…yellow may not be the best color for snow)

and we ran outside and painted the snow! the spray bottles were awesome because it looked so much like spray paint!

the kids had so much fun.

happy snow day!

***

sweet memories

i have all these little posts that keep piling up because i just haven’t had the space or the heart to write.

like my 30th birthday party

our trip to circle s ranch

christmas

emri’s birthday party

my new nephew…sweet, baby hank

a new job

a few struggles…

when i find the time, i’ll post them. not really for your sake. but for ours. for the sake of remembering. remembering all that my family is learning and the burdens that we are carrying in this season. the lessons that are weaving their way in and out of every day. lessons that are so formative. and i’m learning that pain usually comes from a deficit in my life. and i’m learning that deficit in our lives gives way for provision. and i get to see God provide things for my family out of nowhere. and those provisions become memories. and those memories become what my family calls stones.

hence my blog.

i have a few stones piling up. but i’ll mark those memories later. but for now, i have a four year old that is growing up quickly.

she never ceases to warm my heart.

even when i’m sad i get to look across the room and see emri playing dress up…looking at herself in the mirror.

***

so, i’m driving in the car with em in the backseat.

she’s pretending to read a book.

i haven’t seen her all day so i’m gitty to be near her.

the dialogue i hear coming out of that little mouth is fantastic.

“jesus is coming down”,

emri says in a high pitched voice, as she turns the page in her book.  (she is making this story up as she goes)

“no! he’s already here!” says em’s low pitched voice.

“yes. right this way!” -back to a high pitched voice.

i interject,

“emri, are you excited to learn how to read?”

emri looks confused. she gets quiet and you can tell she is deep in thought. then her eyes get big,

“i know how to read?”

“not yet, baby, but soon you will learn.”

she pauses and thinks.

“can you read, mom?”

“emri, i read to you every day. of course.” (duh. i’m a mom. moms can do everything.)

“well, how old are you?”

“30″

“oh. i’m four. you’re still bigger than me.”

these are priceless conversations to me.

***

earlier this week we went to trader joe’s.

emri is always fascinated with the stickers she gets at the checkout line.

on our way home she figures out that the round floral sticker fits perfectly into the circular part of her seatbelt in her car seat.

she starts giggling.

“look mom! look at my sticker!”

(kids are easily thrilled)

i told her that when she unbuckles, the sticker might rip.

“it won’t rip. i know it.” she sometimes tries to convince herself of things.

i watch her through the rearview mirror. she works really hard at placing the sticker.

and i hear this quiet little prayer.

“dear Jesus, please don’t let this sticker rip. please. amen.”

i guess her sweet prayer was answered because

that little sticker is still there. going on day 4.

and while i’m marking down some sweet little memories… i guess i’ll also include emri’s valentines day party at her school.

we made valentines the night before.

and for the first time, she’s writing them out herself!

i was disappointed the morning of her valentines day party because she didn’t have any valentine-looking clothes.( for some reason this is important to me. )

i quickly grabbed a white tee from emri’s room and ran into my craft room/spare room/wanna-be dining room.

i came out with this. so proud of myself.

(i’m easily thrilled)

i just found pink fabric and ironed it on with double sided webbing. i used a cookie cutter to trace the heart.

emri was super impressed with me. and that made me feel pretty special

***