blessed beyond measure

As surreal as it is to know that the year 2015 will begin in a few hours, it is just as surreal to look back and realize how very quickly 2014 passed us by. It's a blur. Maybe because there weren't many enormous milestones for the four of us. An abundance of happy memories, hard work to overcome challenges, the ever-present parenting frustrations, a couple of heart-wrenching losses, just...life. For the sake of comparison, I am looking back at the wrap-up I wrote for 2013. As far as the boys go, hardly anything has changed. Oh, they've grown, mostly in the height department. And I know they have learned so much through the year and are more mature, though you couldn't tell it when they are together. The fighting is brutal. Each boy is so very, very pleasant when his brother is not around. They are nightmarish together. Ugh. But we'll just have to see what the next year brings. For one thing, it will bring Aden into Kindergarten. I can't really hand...

Our Christmas was a flurry of activities, joy, and merriment. Aaaaand about a week of the flu. We'll address that in a bit. But as for the festivities... Christmastime for us is accompanied by the start of basketball season for Brandon's team. We are the anthill - the Golden Eagles' faithful fans, providing a vast majority of the noise in the gym. Trey always keeps a watchful eye on the score and stats. This year, Aden sports an ear warmer to every game. In an odd twist, the buzzer is too loud for him, and the ear warmer apparently helps. Either that or he thinks it looks cool. The boys and I attended a kids' Christmas fun day at our church, which was crazy busy fun. I played super-mediocre photographer while the boys played in bouncy houses, watched a movie, and crafted Christmas presents for Brandon and me. A great, exhausting day. We had the amazing privilege of riding in the Roanoke Parade with Poppop on the Polar Express float. Trey had, um, a bit o...

The world waits for a miracle The heart longs for a little bit of hope O come, o come Emmanuel We pray for peace on earth Calling out from a sea of hurt O come, o come Emmanuel And can you hear the angels singing Glory to the light of the world Glory, the light of the world is here Drought breaks with the tears of a mother A baby's cry is the sound of love come down Come down, Emmanuel He is the song for the suffering He is Messiah, the Prince of Peace has come He has come, Emmanuel For all who wait, for all who hunger For all who've prayed, for all who wander Behold your King Behold Messiah, Emmanuel The world waits for a miracle The heart longs for a little bit of hope O come, o come Emmanuel Love, peace, joy, and the blessings of our Savior Jesus Christ to you this Christmas

Christmas comes around, and without fail I am flooded with memories of my childhood home, affectionately now known as the blue house. Built by my Dad's bare hands, it sits a bit off the beaten path in the country, nestled snugly in the woods. Most of my formative years were spent here, from age five to sixteen, til we moved to the lake. The house stayed in the family, though. My Meemaw Margaret lived there until she graduated to Heaven this past summer, and now my cousin Tabitha lives there with her family. And so I have the beautiful privilege of being able to go back from time to time. Even though we all know it's never the same. My childhood was just magical. And never more so than at Christmastime. When I close my eyes, I can see and hear and smell and taste so much of our Christmases there. Mom would wrap greenery around our number-four-shaped mailbox post and put a big festive bow on the side. It was the most beautiful mailbox post ever. Then, at least for a f...

is growing by the minute. Solid as a rock, as always. And though he really only eats the equivalent of one meal a day (see below), he has grown horizontally out of the pants he fit in at the start of fall. He's not fat, just big. Well, there is some meat on his belly. And chin. Yep, he's a hoss. went cold turkey on his thumb. One morning during his post-wake-up snuggle session with Monkey in one arm and the other thumb in his mouth, I said something like, "Buddy, it's about time to give up that thumb. If you don't, it might mess up your teeth and then the dentist will have to do extra work on you." Bam, done. My apparently dentist-phobic son never put the thumb in his mouth again. And it's been months. has the sweetest puppy love thing going with a girl named Presley at his school. They look for each other at dropoff time, play together during school whenever possible, and always stick close to each other in the pickup line. Any mention of s...