Shhh.....can you hear that?!

I am alone for the first time this week! At first I was confused by what I heard, but then I settled in...comfortably...into the silence! Drinking a latte. Alone with my thoughts. What pleasure!

Calendars Don't Impress Me Much

I love calendars! It's the type A in me. I love organizing, being organized and staying organized. I love to see dates on the calendar...past, present and future. I love calendars so much that I have several going at any given time. I know...none of this aligns with the title of this post, but please...read on.

You see, I've been noticing for a while now how people constantly talk about how they are too busy. Too busy with meetings, play dates, kid's schedules, work, etc. And it's often said in the vein of an apology. "I'm sorry, but I am too busy to {have dinner, hang out, help with, call}.

All this busyness has gotten me to thinking...is it OK to be too busy?

I've been guilty of being too busy. Not with things that shouldn't fill my time...busy with good things. Bible study. Charity work. Crafts. Cleaning house. Organizing. Being Mom. Life gets busy.

But conviction comes when our busyness takes the place of friendships, serving others, and being available in times of need. I think we flaunt our calendars (and busyness) because it makes us feel important, needed and significant. We think the busier we are, the more important we must be. Oh, how deceived we are.

Being too busy just means we aren't good at setting boundaries. We take on too much and crowd out the important things in life. We say "yes" when we should say "no" because we don't want to offend, burden, anger. We allow our calendars to choke out family time, rest time, worship time, etc. Ultimately, we find that our calendars are choking us.

I've taken this challenge seriously, and I offer it to you. Stop filling in all that blank space on the calendar. Be OK with a non-scheduled day and be available to those around you whether it be your kids, spouse, coworkers, friends or neighbors. Find your signifigance in Christ—the Father of Time—and not in your calendar. Then you will realize your importance comes from Him and not the things that fill your days.

Where babies come from

Last night Tim put Emma to bed and she wanted to talk about babies. During the course of their discussion, Emma asked how the baby comes out. Now this is a subject that often came up when I was pregnant with Nate, but I was not in the right frame of mind to discuss such things with a 5 year old. So I was very vague...usually saying something like, "God makes a way."

Well last night Tim told Emma the truth. Granted, it was in very elementary terms without much elaboration, but he told her the general idea. I was floored when Tim relayed this to me later in the evening. One ~ because he actually told her and didn't say, "Ask your Mom." And two ~ because the little bit he did tell her, completely satisfied Emma's curiousity. She didn't ask anymore questions on the matter.

So this morning I am driving Emma and her friend, Reilly, to school when Emma announces, "Last night Daddy told me where the baby comes out. Now I know...so I can tell Reilly!"

WHAT!!?!!?

I told Emma that those were the kinds of things we talk about at home and that Reilly could talk to her own Mom and Dad about it. She seemed to get the idea and the subject was dropped. WOW ~ close call! I had a sudden flashback of Emma informing Reilly that Santa Clause is not real and there's no such thing as the toothfairy. I love having an intelligent daughter, but if this keeps up, we might lose our carpool buddies.

That's Just Nate

It makes sense that Emma loves to play dress up in Mommy's clothes, but I never expected Nate to follow suit. Every morning he toddles into my room and finds something of mine to wear. This day it was a pair of shorts, and I was quite impressed with how he got them on. One arm through one leg hole and his head through the other.


This is a car tower we got Nate for Christmas. He loves to play cars and trucks, but this day I found him using it as a ladder.



Nate also loves to wear Emma's headbands. Need I say more?!

My camera is MIA!

I can't find my camera!

And that's really too bad because I wanted to show you the card I created for "card party" tomorrow night. Yes, I could scan the card and upload it that way, but that takes more effort than I am willing to muster right now. Why?

Because today we had a warm spell...we hit 50 degrees! So I decided to ditch the treamill and run outside for the first time since last fall. I ran 2.5 miles!!! On the treadmill I tend to burn out around 1.5 miles. When you aren't going anywhere and you look at the same ole' thing out the same ole' window day in and day out, you tend to get bored (even with a really good playlist on the ipod).

So I ran outside...further than I have ever run...and that means sore muscles. Thinking of my sore muscles (or feeling them is more like it), I am deterred from going downstairs to retrieve my card, coming back upstairs to scan it, and then returning it back downstairs.

Which leads me back to my original thought...I can't find my camera! I don't want to point fingers, but I sure hope Nate didn't put it in the trash can (it wouldn't surprise me in the least). We've been planning to buy a new SLR digital camera, so this just might be the thing to get us to take the leap.

Oh camera, where are you?!

Updated to read: A mother knows! We found the camera in the garage trash can.

A trip everyone should take!

We went to Mt. Princeton Hot Springs for a few days between Christmas and New Years. Aaahhh ~ what a delightful place! Of course, the hot springs are the best part. But we also enjoyed snowmobiling, games, music and just relaxing with the family.

Tim and I went snowmobiling with my brother Tomy and his fiance' Mendy. We had an absolute blast! (Tim is in yellow, I'm in blue, Mendy in green, and Tomy in red.)




I got Tim a Djembe (drum) for Christmas, and Emma got a harmonica in her stocking. So put them with Tomy and his guitar and you get one fine band! Plus some great music!


Hanging out with my parents in the cabin.


Tim's parents came and spent a night with us, too. They loved going on walks with the kids.


Nate was so cute in this bear suit I could die!


This place is a fabulous destination whether its winter or summer. The hot springs are naturally occurring in the river, so you can sit in the river or visit one of their three pools. They also have a pool with slides that's open in the summer.

A look back at Christmas

I would be remiss if I didn't share a few pictures from Christmas. We started the week with a sleep over by the tree.


We spent Christmas Eve with Tim's family and headed to his Grandma's that evening to celebrate with the cousins, aunts and uncles.

Nate trying to take over cousin Ewan's big wheel.


Emma got a book with her name on it! Love it!


I made this canvas for my sister-in-law Judi.


She in turn got me a fabulous ring from one of my favorite stores: Sundance!


Tim told the Christmas story that evening.


Nate was most interested in the paper...eating it, that is!


When you get the Wrights together, wrestling always breaks out!


Christmas morning...


Emma got her Daddy some G.I. Joe dolls so he could play Barbies with her. (We thought they were better than Ken dolls.)


Emma got a Barbie RV.


And Nate just wanted to sit in it!


My soon-to-be, sister-in-law Mendi got me a WOK! I am so excited to learn to use it! (That's her on the far right.)


My sister got Nate this lawn mower, and he LOVED it!


There were so many pictures from these two days...320 to be exact...that its hard to narrow it down. But I will definitely be sharing some pics from our trip to Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, which was between Christmas and New Years.

Happy 2010!!!

Can you believe we are starting a new year already?! It seems that 2009 passed in a blink...and now here we are...2010!

I like to start the new year thinking about goals, dreams, plans, etc. So my first post of 2010 is dedicated as such.

Our plans for the coming year include...
♥ My brother's wedding in June! Since it is in Oklahoma City where I went to college, we will be able to reconnect with old friends.
♥ Making 150 - 200 wedding invitations. I can't wait to show you...they are darling!
♥ Spring break trip...we are hoping for Lake Havasu in Arizona!
♥ Celebrating our 12 year anniversary...maybe Glenwood Springs?!
♥ Leading Bible study for the first time since my pregnancy with Nate.

My goals include...
♥ Running my first 5K and 10K.
♥ Being committed to daily Bible study.
♥ Growing as a wife and mother in the Fruit of the Spirit.
♥ Catching up on scrapbooks, which I haven't touched since pre-Nate days.

My dreams include...
♥ Better health for our family.
♥ Finish painting the interior of our house.
♥ More down time—less to do lists.
♥ More camping and water skiing!

I hope you jump into 2010 with passion and energy and good health! I pray God's blessings will pour down on each of us...so we may know Him more intimately.


** Taken at our annual New Years Eve dinner at the Sunbird Restaurant. **

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