christmas dates

this year troy and i took the kids on christmas dates! troy bought ali a beautiful little christmas dress and they went to cucina cucina and then out to barnes & noble where they looked at books together. unfortunately they had lousy service at cucina cucina, but it's pretty fun that that's where he took her on their first christmas date since that's where he took me for our first ever date.

caleb and i got all dressed up and we went out to red robin. caleb had the mac 'n' cheese and i had my favorite crispy chicken tender salad. we then split a milkshake! our server was great and kept calling it a date and treated us super well. then caleb had pretty much the whole restaurant watching as he conversed with "Red" the mascot. they talked about their differing shoe sizes (huge and little) and the color of their legs (yellow and normal) and the fact that they were both super ticklish!

it was such a nice and special evening and i'm already looking forward to next year!

some advent highlights

caleb insisting we buy a specific tree with colored lights. and asking every morning to turn on "his colors"

decorating the tree and sharing stories about ornaments

bellevue botanical garden with connollys and dorschels

painting cookies

making caramels and sneaking to the neighbors to hand them out

christmas dates (more on that later)

taking the kids to babies R us and toys R us to shop for each other

caleb playing with his nativity scene

thankful

following in the footsteps of kelly and jessi, here's a list of things for which i'm thankful!

grace and peace

the way troy looks at me even when i'm wearing sweats and haven't showered
caleb singing "I love you baby Jesus" while playing with his nativity
ali's smile
bath time for the kids
reading
the look on ali's face when troy enters the room. I hope she gets that from me
conversations with caleb
being close to family even when they live in other states

purple
friends that feel more and more like family
date night
Qdoba after church
the chance to spend every day with two of my favorite people
the chance to spend a lifetime with my love
chai tea
game nights
God's sovereignty

dreaming about shoes

the other night i had a dream that i was an auctioneer at a shoe auction. i think i've had shoes on my brain because i'm kind of in love with little ballet flats... they are the shoe i've been praying would be in fashion because they are just perfect for me! but of course, i still only have one pair, so i look at them every time i'm at the store and dream about christmas.

in this dream, though, the shoes were all pretty crazy (think crazy colorful plastic with mondo feathers and sequins.). and sometimes i wouldn't show the shoe before auctioning it off. i would just say, women's shoe, size 8, pink. and you would just get what you got. i think mostly people were happy, though, and i even snuck a couple of cute ones for myself!

your girlfriend's ugly

about a month ago, my dad was teaching a class and asked this question, "what would you say to someone who said they loved Jesus, but not his church." some guy in the class answered, "i like you, but your girlfriend's ugly."

i've been thinking about that. we've had several single guy friends in our life. most of them are very happily married now. and we LOVE the women they found to spend the rest of their lives with. i wonder, though, how it would have been if we had not liked the women. how could we be friends with someone, say we love someone, and then dislike the person they chose? sure, we might not hit it off at first. and it would take some time to get to know her. but in the end, part of the very nature of the man is to be learned by knowing the woman he loves.

the Bible says that the church is the bride of Christ. it's messed up and can offend. but how can we say we love Christ if we do not love His church? it may be hard and take time and effort and patience, but in the end, part of the very nature of Jesus can be learned by knowing His church.

Warning, FMO

(for moms only)

So, Ali is a very infrequent pooper. But regular... every six days, like clockwork (well, except this time it was seven days). I am drinking pear juice like it's my job, but I guess this is just how she is. We've gotten to the place where I even have a special "pooping outfit" for her so that nothing else gets stained. Oh the things a parent does!
In some ways it's nice... I don't have to bring a diaper bag everywhere I go (unless it's been six days, then I bring two of everything).
Ok, why did I write this blog?? I guess I feel like this is something I want to remember about Ali at this stage... won't she live that?!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Conversation

Me: Caleb, I'm glad you're awake! How are you?
Caleb: I good. I turn two in august. I have dog party. I eat dog cake, chips.
Me: wow, that sounds like fun!
Caleb: it so fun.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone