blessed beyond measure

Surely I write only to myself now, with nary a shred of posting regularity over the last several months. And so be it. This is scrapbooking for dummies, after all. There are many excuses. Oh, I could blame the heck out of some stuff. Like the exorbitant amount of housework and organization accomplished, mere moments before no less than thirty long lost family members descended upon us the weekend before Christmas. Or like the truancy of my firstborn, who took it upon himself to skip school for two days in order to avoid on-stage rehearsal of the Kindergarten Christmas program. Oh, Trey. Don't even get me started. At this point I daily scour the mirror, certain to find my first gray hair. Or the endless antics of Taz, who, in the span of just a few hours, rode his new bicycle down the steps outside the basement, then later helped himself to a solid bite of soap in the bathtub. That's my Aden, the armload of boy who now climbs out of his crib with ease. Life as I kno...

As our thoughts turn toward the end of one year and the beginning of the next, and as we reflect upon and rejoice over the strange and beautiful way our Savior came to us, this family wishes yours a peaceful, joyous, memory-rich Christmas, filled with God's greatest blessings. So wrap our injured flesh around you breathe the air and walk our sod rob our sin and make us holy perfect Son of God perfect Son of God welcome to our world

A little ADOSD (attention deficit ooh-shiny disorder, on the way up the aisle), a little deer-in-the-headlights, a spontaneous stage-dive attempt, and a camel-kicking session (for which, unfortunately, the camera was not running). All in a night's work for a two-year-old sheep in a church Christmas play. Between Aden's antics, the three-year-old shepherds walking around threatening to hit people with their sticks, and three-year-old Mary and Joseph tug-of-warring over Baby Jesus, you know it's Christmas.

So yeah. There hasn't been much time lately. Which is only half-true. There have been plenty of times I have said to myself, "Probably should blog," only to opt for the Hallmark Channel. Christmas comes but one and a half months a year, you know. But really, I honestly can't tell you why posting has steadily dwindled through the year. Maybe lack of inspiration. Which can't be it, because the boys do something pretty much every day that makes me shake my head in disbelief. Over-inspiration? Whatever the case, my brain has decided it's time. It is the end of November. The house is as decorated as it's going to be. Christmas cards are stuffed, stamped, and stuck. Stuck, that is, with insurance company return address labels and my own nerdariffic mail-merge printed address labels. Yes, I have a database. Judge away. And most of my shopping is done. Darn you, Toys R Us, for not discreetly labeling mail-order kids' stuff. So it would seem a...

I've been sitting here for an hour, the guilt of having not blogged in two weeks eating me alive. And I just can't do it. Wrote several uninteresting paragraphs and deleted them. There's just nothing to say. Don't get me wrong. Life is really good. Exhausting, but good. It's basketball season. There is no space for cohesive thoughts in my mind. We have once again entered survival mode. Maybe at some point I'll be able to write again. For now, my apologies to the grandparents. Here are some pictures to fill the void.

They did indeed wear their costumes. And wore them well. Trey ended up choosing to be Papa Bear from The Berenstain Bears for "Book Character Day" at school. And Aden reclaimed Brandon's mouse costume. Thank you, thank you Giga for working so hard to make these outfits happen! Trunk or Treat was fun-ish. Breezy and freezy. Trey was a great, slow thorough candy giver-outer. And no one was happier to receive than his brother, who begged "mo kind-dy" (more candy) from his Daddy all night. After giving out nearly all of our 600 pieces of candy in only the first hour, Trey apparently had a confrontation with something milk- or peanut-infested, and had a nasty little food reaction. So we Halloweenied out and closed up shop early. Er, closed up trunk. And made it home in time for the last half of Charlie Brown. And now, it's time. I may or may not have listened to Christmas music and tuned into Hallmark Channel's holiday preview t...

Sitting here praying for those in the path of Sandy. Thankful that we are mostly out of harm's way, but sad and burdened for those who will lose so much. It is times like these when we are reminded of how small and helpless we are. Especially to consider that even the strongest winds, the most relentless waters, are a mere glimpse of the power of our God. Makes me long for heaven. Big things like this. Or like the deep valley we were walking into at this time last year. Or like, you know, any given Tuesday. I want Jesus. The older I get, the tighter I cling to Romans 8. Last Friday, I took the boys to Nana and Granddad's house for a photo session. The weather and overcast natural light could not have been better. The leaves could not have been more beautiful. And two boys could not have behaved better. Yes, even Aden. I only had to dig him out from under the electric fence, which seems to have no effect on him, once. Trey was a great helper. We got some really ...