Mary

At Christmastime, as a mother, I feel a sort of comraderie with Mary...Jesus' mother. I was listening to a Christmas songs, "New Kid in Town" and "Angels Cried"...they talk about the simplicity of Christmas and basically that the people weren't sure or didn't REALLY know that this little baby was the savior...But Mary did...

As a mother, I look at my tiny baby girl & my big boy and I think that Mary raised Jesus in these stages. I'm sure she spent countless nights awake with a screaming baby (as I did last night!), or had to discipline him as he made messes or was a little toot (like my big boy can be). And most importantly, she absolutely loved him more than life. She watched Joseph be an amazing father to her son. She watched him grow and felt the time slipping through her hands. She knew he had a big purpose...but he was still her little boy.

Its such a neat feeling to think of all of this at Christmas time.

Justin was asking me questions the other day about Catholics. He found himself in a position to defend Catholics. One thing many people think is that we "worship" Mary. This isn't true. She IS blessed! I was reading the Gospel of Luke's Christmas story...it's so beautiful. The angel Gabriel says, "Hail favored one, The Lord is with you!" When Elizabeth hears Mary's greeting, later, John jumps in her womb. Elizabeth says, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb". Which is part of our prayer, "Hail Mary".

Hail Mary full of grace
The lord is with you
Blessed art thou among women
Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus

Holy Mary, Mother of God
Pray for us sinners
Now and at the time of our death

We aren't seeing her as a god or "worshipping" her. We are asking her to pray for us. This woman who God favored and entrusted the birth of His son to. This "blessed" woman.

Anyway...I'm rambling...but I love to talk about Mary...and as a woman and mother, I feel connected!

Siblings

Cole~4weeks

Natalie~5weeks

I'm going to start running...hopefully soon!

I love to run...have since 7th grade. I ran cross country in highschool...always trying to beat Kelly (sorry Kel...you know you were my motivation!) I quit in college...but then in 2004, I decided to lose weight. I lost 40 lbs between running and the Firm DVDs. Well...the dvds are almost impossible in this tiny house with 2 kids. I've been reading some blogger's triumphs in running (kelly, kori, ashley). THEN..I read a great article in United's Spirit magazine that Justin gets. One of my FAVORITE people had an article about running...Tom Weis~Cheif Learning Officer at United Supermarkets. He used to run marathons when he was younger and just started back up...at 57 years. His "personal marathon philosophy" comes from one of United's famous sayings. It's one of my favorite sayings. It motivated me, and I hope it motivates my fellow runners!!! I plan on repeating it to myself when I run!

"With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable."

Tom goes on to say this, "My running isn't anything special, I just hang in there".

See??? Isn't that awesome? I'm always thinking...why run races if there's no way I can win? If Tom just hangs in there & loves it...so can I.

Anyway...it really hit the nail on the head for me!

Merry Christmas!

Yay! It worked! I'm spoiling your christmas cards...but oh well! I didn't print this off...I did Walmart cards. This is my home-made version! Let me tell you...It's a CHORE to take photos of a 2 year old and a 6 week old...TOGETHER! After about 200 photos, we managed to get about 6 decent ones. This is AFTER I quit & JP snapped great photos. He lucks out. Most of the time Cole ran around making goofy noises. Natalie cried herself to sleep...I just about cried & Justin laughed. We're lucky that these turned out...let me tell you! HOPEFULLY at least Cole will listen to us next year!!

Ornaments

Here I am in 3rd grade. Wasn't I so "pretty"??? Check out the nice hairdo (thanks momma...), Red Sally Jesse Raphael glasses, and the questionable bow on my shirt. Seriously though...my parents are great. I was obviousliy not so cute, but they always made me feel beautiful. I owe my confidence to them!

Funny video

I found this video from the night before we had Natalie. I'm HUGE!!! Cole is HILARIOUS. He loves to "get water" from our dispenser...and he's a persistent little dude!

New TV

Well...JP & I decided it was time for an upgrade. We've had my 27" Philips since 2001. It has done a FABULOUS job! We thought it was HUGE when I got it! I'll never forget going to Best Buy in Wichita Falls & purchasing it. It was my first BIG purchase! I felt so grown up...at age 20! haha!

We had decided on a 37" TV. The space in our entertainment center has room for a TV that is 41.5 inches wide. JP wanted a bigger TV...but we figured 10" is a big difference...so that'd be fine. Well...JP goes a little crazy when shopping (after I agreed to get one). We ended up with a 42" Philips (40.5 inches wide).

WOW...BIG difference!!! I've included a pic of our old TV....and then our new TV. We feel like we are in a movie theatre!! And by the way...it has GREAT picture & sound! AND...Mickey Mouse Clubhouse looks GREAT on it :)