my word.

beware. this is a rare more serious post.
i blame it on all the reading i've been doing of shauna niequist.
introspection overload over here.

praise be to the Lord.
to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.
Psalm 68:19.

i read that verse three times a day. every day.
it's on the back of the book we read last before nap (jesus loves me).
holding micah's hand as he runs his pointer finger under the words.
yeah, i teach reading. so what. who cares.

recently, i watched a sermon that encouraged the congregation to pray about asking God to give you a word to describe 2014.
and then find a verse that goes with that word, and make it your mantra for the year.

my word was praise... despite circumstances, sometimes.
and my verse?
i figured i should use the one i read all the time.

and today, i hit a wall.
partly because i accidentally forgot to drink coffee. this factor could me more like mostly rather than partly.
partly because micah's still sick.
partly because i wanted to go see detroit friends. (which i did anyway... with the sick boy. a little selfish? maybe.)
partly because i haven't slept much for four days now.

and i just put him down for his nap, read this book and verse like always, and was re-struck with my word of praise.

calmed me right back down. plus i drank coffee. but still. i'm choosing to believe it was jesus.

but, praising in spite of my burdens today.
i reread that as spit instead of spite.
praising in spit of it, too.
because there's a lot of that around here.

i need to get some sleep.
oh, and you should watch the sermon. it's here. 

book club, round 2.

i posted once before about books i was wanting to read.

and i'm in that place again.
i want to be in a book club.
(anyone, anyone?)
we could even do a book club/cooking club/mentoring combo. that's my dream situation.

these are the books i've been thinking about/reading/wanting to read lately:

read this one recently... and it sort of changed my perspective on life.

it's that good.

my soon-to-be sister-in-law bought it for me.

connie rocks.

so, matt bought me this one as part of my christmas present:

almost done with it.

also incredible.

i'm also reading this one as a devotional that matt also got me:

so, so great.

my brother bought me this one and it's next on my list:

other ones i want to read?

because what could be better than books by comedians?!

speaking of which, i still haven't read this one that i heard is amazing:

you know, plus other ones...

this one comes out soon. and i want to read it.

and pretty much all books by pastors that i admire.

plus all the classics.

and some funny ones.

oh, and then i have to relearn spanish in the next 3.5 weeks.

haven't spoken/read/thought it in 2 years.

before i go to madrid.

yeah, madrid. mission trip style. for 8 days.

don't get the wrong idea... i'm beyond excited to go!

just stressed because, well, i forget a language that i'll need.

so i should only be reading this book.

just have to memorize it.

should be easy.

ugh.

scarred for life.

really.
i am.
and as a disclaimer: if gross baby things gross you out, don't keep reading.
because what happened to me yesterday is by far the grossest thing that's ever happened to me.
it's so gross that i feel it's necessary to write down to remember.

you know, for when micah's older.
so i can embarrass him.
just kidding. i'm going to be the cool mom.

but here's the story:

it was bath time. because micah got syrup in his hair and freaked out. ha.
bath time finished, micah loves to do naked time.
so, i let him run around a little.
(lesson learned the hard way: naked time no more.)
it's hilarious. he's so cute and chubby and just loves being naked.
so we're in the guest room, looking at some legos.
he's standing.

suddenly, he grunts.
i was kneeling in front of him, playing legos with him.
i look behind him... actively pooping.
without thinking, i did something i wish i could take back.
i stuck my hand out.
started catching poop.

it gets worse... then, while i'm kneeled in front of him, catching his poop, he started peeing.
all over my pants.
then i told him to walk to his room (trying to stay calm).
he begins walking fast, with my running behind, trying to catch the poop that's still coming.
i was barefoot.
i managed to step in it?!
poop footprints from guest room to micah's room.
he peed again on the walk. just right on the carpet.

by the time he was on the changing pad, he had gotten poop all over himself.
and obviously, i was covered. as were my feet and sweatpants.

a half hour later, we were all cleaned up physically.
but emotionally, i don't know that i'll ever be wiped clean of the memory.

you're welcome for sharing.

resolutions.

i make new years resolutions every year.

and fail at them.

and i make my friends tell me their resolutions.

which are probably not real, just to make me stop asking.

so, this year, katie and sus were kind enough to go in on it with me.

check out what we're doing:

each month, a new goal.

easier, right?

good luck reading that handwriting.

i think the only reason i got them to do this with me is because we were staying up until midnight for new years.

thus the handwriting.

i'm pretty excited about it.

and january's goal is because i still have a lot of clothes from high school or before.

we have a huge closet. and it's full of things i don't wear.

time to purge.

thinking about it makes me nervous and sweaty.

let's do thisssss!

holly jolly.

we had a great christmas.

matt got a whole week off somehow!

we went to spend time with my family, then his family.

and we didn't take pictures.

fail.

my dad took lots, but i don't have those.

but, i do have some iphone snapshots of our time. so here are some random moments i thought were worth documenting!

date night--out to dinner and catching fire. so great!

micah with a guitar.

that's not even one of his presents.

but it was cute.

my dad's "omelette" for me.

though he said, "well, i'm not that good at omelettes." and then, "wow, that looks runny." and then, "the water didn't really go away." (water?!) so i threw half of it away.

completely worth documenting. haaaa

i think they like each other.

my brother was a dancing shepherd in the christmas play.

last year, he was joseph and micah was Jesus.

micah got demoted this year to kid-in-nursery-while-grownups-watch-program... 

but ben clearly got promoted. he got to dance in front of all of us.

christmas pjs for all!

our little family.

two of our nieces!

i just love them both.

mesmerized by fish.

hand in cheerio container. always.

hair a bit mullet-y. we need to fix that.

so then, for new years, katie and susan came.

it was our fifth year of celebrating new years together!

and they loved on micah... and he was obsessed with them.

 we made homemade ice cream (we got an ice cream maker for christmas!)

 we arted it up.

 games, naturally.

matt's pieces need to be sanitized.

and we also got to meet baby caleb, my college roommate's newborn!

micah needs to calm down the lovin a bit.

he can't stop. he won't stop.

family and friends for a week and a half straight. 

few things could be better.

creative christmas.

well, i've finally given away all my christmas gifts, so i can blog about what i've been working on for the past... embarrassingly long amount of time.

homemade christmas gifts.

for me, a big part of the season.

not as big as the jesus part, though.

i have my priorities in order.

so, here it goes... 
(oh, and beware. terrible photography coming your way. i took pictures randomly as i was making these things, thinking i'd take better pictures later, which i obviously never did. that's what i get for setting my expectations too high.)

paint chip calendar

homemade scarves (i made them once before--check here for a tutorial!)

christmas decoration paintings.

be kind. they were freehanded.

also, that tree next to the painting? made my an elementary-aged husband of mine.

meaning him when he was in elementary school. jeez.

and could be my favorite decoration of all time. 

 burlap christmas placemats

 burlap monogram for my newly-engaged brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law

again, freehanded... it's the creativity that counts, right?

also, don't you love my feet in the photo?

handprint ornaments from micah. ish. because one year olds can't use ovens or paint beyond splatters.

chalkboard to hang in a room (made from a frame)

also, a few not pictured homemade gifts

• chalkboard coasters (basically, chalkboard paint on tiles and then mounted felt on the bottom)
• engaged ornament for brother
• wedding countdown frame for brother
• mini scavenger hunt for matt (with each clue written on a piece of micah "art." haa) to find his gift
• oh, and it's not homemade, but lots of carol roeda gifts. look it up here

oh, how i love crafts.