little angel

well, my husband...

where to begin....

he often keeps me wondering.

in general he thinks solely

"like a man"

logic is the only way.

all of his thought process is so incredibly logic driven

[frankly it can get annoying for this often 

emotional thinker, hahaha]

therefore compassion can be very hard to come by for this man.

the little orphans on the

tv screen just dont work on 

him...

society's deprived do not make him look twice...

there is just not that soft, tenderness

that some people exude all the time.

{this can be confusing because he was

in church ministry for a good amount of time...but he did not do it to practice compassion or tenderness!}

yet...

every once in awhile i see a light.

this past weekend i saw that light again.

our church has a giving tree filled with angels{people who are in need}

and you could go pick one up to bless them on christmas.

well at church, mark all of a sudden disappeared

and he came back smiling very proudly

that he picked out an "angel" for us to bless on christmas.

its a little girl about elleanne's age

who basically needs "everything"

on top of just being 

blessed on christmas.

we have been calling her "our angel"

so he told me...well 

you like to shop

and i figured our family could bless

someone else because we are so blessed.

well, i rejoiced inside

because i always want to adopt everyone

who is truly in need...especially little kids!

[however if i am honest i felt a little overwhelmed and almost irritated that he thought i liked to shop (i used too...before taking 2 kids under 2...ooh and that this little girl is the same size as elle so it is hard to give it her and not my own daughter-however GOd quickly changed my heart there-pointing out to me that this little girl has nothing and elle has "everything" compared to her!)]

so to the stores i went.

well, my best shopping is at the 

thrift store :)

i buy stuff and spruce it up!

(we are also giving new stuff too!)

but i just wanted to show you something.

i found this baby doll

and she looked terrible.

looked like she been put in a blender!

hair everywhere, marks on her face and clothes

destroyed.

but i fell in love...

she sings and tells you how to get ready

i love her.

and now that i have been working on her

i love her even more

but what i have done is prayed for this little girl whenever i work on the doll she will be receiving.

its so stupid but it is going to be a real 

sacrifice to give her away

but i know she will be special to this little girl, i just know it!

here's the picture of the doll.

i wish i could show you what she looked like before but i did not take a picture.

but if you are reading this i am asking you to pray for our "little angel"

crazy how in just a little amount of

time that you spend praying and thinking about 

someone...someone you dont even know

and will never even know you- and yet you can love them.

i cant even fathom God's love for us!

well so i still have lots more work for this little girls christmas

but i just wanted to brag about my husbands compassion and how he is leading our family this christmas![and what God can use to teach us]

anyways

i have to share one other thing.

we got such a great gift.

auntie kate sent us a fisher price

nativity scene that the kids can play with.

why didn't i think of this?

its perfect, jesse is learning all about baby jesus and the christmas story.

we love it!

here's a video of not to long after we opened it!

ooohh and by the way....
i called it a horse that elle was chewing on.
well, mark corrected me...its a cow....i dint think they had cows...not sure why?

storytime.

isnt it crazy

when you see your kids and 

they reflect you...

and your spouse...

crazy how your kid can be both of you

in one tiny little person.

well this may not be good examples but i want to share

them anyway.

so
the other day...jesse was an angel...
he was sitting in his chair eating his vegetables so good
while i was making his sandwich.
well, he finished his vegetables and he saw a book on the table so he pulled it 
onto his tray and quietly read his book
until i came back into the room
when i brought the plate to his chair
he sweetly looked up at me
and said "whats this?"
i said "your sandwich"
he said "oh"...then proceeded to close his book and carefully return it to the table.
then i put the sandwich on his tray. and he said "kankyou"
{thats thank you}.
it was an incredibly pleasant experience
i could not believe what had just transpired!
-MARK!
{i could just imagine mark doing this as a child}
from what i hear...he was an angel of a child...perfection used to be of utmost importance :)!....but watch out for the teenage years!
i for one HATED books! you would not have caught me 
waiting patiently READING a BOOk!...especially with food coming my way! hahaha

let me now show you- Laura....

well,

the day before the example above was last sunday

and we stayed home from church {kids still sick}

we sat around eating our breakfast and we were live streaming

church {church on the way's service}

well everything was fine

and then they started prayer circles in the congregation.

so what happens for the internet and radio folks is someone on staff

comes on air to pray with you over the internet and radio.

well we were all just listening and eating and about 

1 minute into the prayer....jesse randomly bursts out

"AMEN!"....."Amen!"

we started rolling....

we did not even realize that he was paying attention

but apparently according to him they were done praying and

it was time for them to stop!

hahaha....blunt just like his mom!

oh man he has a lot to learn about his tongue!

ok now i have a video

to show you

of both kids.

last night jesse

just thought this was so

fun to do 

over and over...and over...and over

and over and over

oooh did i say over and over

again...

then it jumps to a different video of 

elle bending backwards {this is how

we got pot pie all over the dining room-from the previous post}

before i turned on the camera she

was actually touching the ornament.

by the way...jesse was trying to show me
the "B" at the end of the movie.
we are learning the ABC's...we take a new letter
to learn every couple of days.
and then we go around the house and find that letter everywhere...
and we draw it...put it on the fridge, etc.
its great but now every time we go anywhere....
he has to point out the letters that he recognizes....
LOUD and PROUD!....

and so it began...

i have a new enemy...

its not someone or something its

....i guess....

a life process....

maybe a philosophy?...

i dont know...

see! i hate it so much 

i dont even know how to categorize it!

-

potty training!

oh my...

not fun....

 let me show you how we

feel about it over here!

{sad thing is...this is the best picture!}

okay

so i decided that we

would try potty training 

this weekend.

we went to church sat. night

so we (jesse and I) could wake up 

at a decent time and get started first 

thing in the morning.

well,

i followed my book "potty train in less than a 

day"...

went to the thrift store...by Gods grace

found a peeing doll [the book said we need to 

do demonstrative learning...hey if it works

im all for it]

thought it was a sign from God that the doll 

was at the thrift store, woohoo!

started our demonstrations

was going well...he was really following the 

demonstations...emptying the pee of doll's potty bowl

 correctly...

all the while I am LOADING

and i mean

LOADING

this kid with fluid...

[also what the book said...plenty of time

for training...]

he would drink his meals if he could so he had no problem downing whatever i put in front of him.

well...

not too long later...
{let it be known jesse was most of the time underwearless...laymans terms-bottom half naked.}
so.

Niagara falls miraculous appeared in my kitchen!

yes...puddles of pee...everywhere...

i could not keep up with him peeing everywhere...

i could get him to stop peeing {sometimes}

and sometimes he would start up again

on the toilet

and i would sing praises like crazy ...

then stand up...

then jesse and i would go to clean up the last mess...

then he would pee again (of course before the last mess was clean).... we run to the pot...

 stand up again.....pee again

while trying to clean....

needless to say...

we ended up with piles everywhere

..then try keeping an almost 2 year 

old out of pee...their little

feet are like magnets to

anything you dont want to spread....

so where I did not have a puddle of pee...

from a very loaded belly

there were urine prints all over the wood floor!
oh and somehow...maybe for the 2 seconds i was not staring at him...toys ended up in the kitchen toward the end...
so of course they got in the pee too!
one word...chaos.

well...i gave it a good 4+ hour try

before i put out my white flag!

i am officially now waiting

till after the holidays

...and maybe even after we go to the 

cabin...it could be a pain with 

all the snow gear :)!
{but if you know me i am a very determined person
so he will be potty trained in the somewhat near future!}

...meanwhile it

was POURING outside...

but where is mark in all this mess?

...as far away as possible!

on the roof.

[putting up those oooh so important

christmas lights...IN THE RAIN!]

i am married to clark griswold!

{to be honest he did help a little...

but only when he tried to sneak in the door...

and i saw him...and was able to call for some assistance...and then he would all of a sudden be gone!}hahaha

well...we survived.

floors antibacteralized and mopped!

so some happy pictures of jesse and elle.

he crawled up on the chair and sat with her just like the pictures show! all on his own.

{below} i think his face is so funny here!

Christmas on its way!

woohoo!

yes, christmas is coming.

we are so looking forward to it this year

with both of our kids.

jesse will be a lot more interactive and elleanne is at least sitting

and somewhat participatory...

anyhoo...

i have some footage of jesse at our

downtown christmas tree lighting and parade.

i love that towns all over america 

come together to get ready 

for the greatest and biggest 

birthday party ever-Jesus'!

so jesse clapped almost every time a new group or float passed by us-

he was enthralled---this age is getting to be so much fun!

{...just dont think about all the work!}

...sorry its phone video...and we did not get a good clip of it!

so onto other "bring in the seasons:"
           decorating the tree with daddy!

 pictures from the parade!

 Our only friends our age in AG...the merrills
it was so nice to see them at the parade!

" Santa Baby!"

and jesse showing elleanne what should not be done with the ornaments....right?