Walking through a winter wonderland

We went on our annual tree hunt with the Wells & Ruff's last weekend after Thanksgiving. For the last 3 years we have either missed the snow, the snow had melted, or hadn't even come yet. NOT THIS YEAR, we got our wish! Both the families we go with know the owner's of the private land we tree hunt on. It isn't open to the public, so we are so thankful that the Wells & Ruff's have invited us to tag along & join their tradition. It really is one of the most beautiful pieces of land in North Spokane. We get the woods to ourselves, and have made a fun tradition out of the tree hunting adventure. This year the snow was waste high on the kids, and up to our knees(adults.) The kids had a blast sledding, playing in the snow, going to the cabin for hot chocolate, and treats. Here's to another great year at Ted's tree farm!

Thanksgiving FeStiVitIeS

I have so much I want to blog about from the last week! We have had such an awesome week full of family & friends. Shane took last week of to our SuRpRiSe and it was so wonderful to have him home, and spend lots of quality time as a family. Because of this amazing winter weather, we spent most of our days playing outside in our mounds of snow. Spokane has become a beautiful winter wonderland. We cozied up by the fire each day,read books, watched movies, RELAXED and I couldn't have asked for more of a perfect time. I love winters like this, when you feel like you're living in your own snow globe.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with friends, it was so much fun! We had a delicious non-tradition :") yet bountiful dinner & dessert. Laura always comes up with a cute craft and had Indian headband, and Indian purse art supplies on hand for the kids. Olivia & Ella kept putting on little musicals for us, it was too cute(and for some reason they kept changing in to leotards.) They played so hard, and giggled their little heads off. And because the Ruff's have their very own winter wonderland of woods...Todd took the kids for sled rides by pulling them around on the 4 wheeler. The kids LOVED it, and were thrilled to say the least. As you can see I couldn't take enough pictures of them :") We are thankful and grateful for loving friends and family! Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving Holiday!

My Buddy & Me

Nolan & I had a date! We had so much fun, the highlight was Seussical the Musical, and Red Robin for lunch. I love my little man, and I know I've mentioned this over and over...but I am so grateful for the solo time I get with him each day. We had the best company along side of us. Olivia's Kindergarten teacher(from last year) has become a dear friend, mentor, encourager, a wonderful addition and vessel to our lives. She had a few extra tickets and asked if we could join her along with her Kindergarten class. We went to lunch afterwords, just the 3 of us, and it was so nice to catch up with her. Not to mention I was thrilled to have that time with Nolan. He LOVED the musical, it was his first time watching a performance like that in a theater setting other than his sister during ballet. The children in Seussical were incredibly talented, it's amazing. My friend D and I took the older kids the following weekend, and it was kind of a zoo, but I guess fitting when it comes to Seuss =)

Waking up to surprises

We woke up 2 times in the middle of the night/early morning to no power. So weird, we lost power 3 times yesterday. Anyhow, Nolan came running to my bedside at 6:30 AM(which is late for him to rise, he's been waking up between 5:30-6 AM, yuck)to tell me there was snow on the ground. The kids were so excited and literally ran outside in their pj's. We want it to snow MORE. I LOVE the snow, I pray we get a ton this year!!! And I welcome old man winter...please come soon, this is one of my favorite seasons.

This & That

Okay ya I know it might be a wee bit early to start thinking ChRiStMaS, snow, holiday baking, and ChRiStMaS music =) BUT, I was tired of looking at brown and orange on my blog. Not to mention, the kids and I started listening to ChRiStMaS music on Friday and it got us so excited and ChRiStMaS was ringing in my head!

I want to mention that I will be making this blog private so if you want to follow it, just let me know, I will need your email address to put you on the list. You can email me @ kloft23@hotmail if you want to. Not that my blog, or life is that interesting, but if you're not on the list, you won't be able to access it, at least I hope not. There are too many weird things happening on blogger and facebook so I'd like to keep it as private as possible. Thanks!

This is SO GOOD!

Between Beth Moore last weekend, and an online Bible study that I am currently involved in I feel like I am getting a major,much needed and overdue SPIRITUAL BOOST! I needed it and know there have been a lot of people praying for me to get back on track in this area of my life =) I had to share this devotion with you because most of you reading this are "mamas" and are dear to my heart! It was sent to me by my bible study leader.

This devotion comes from Proverbs 31 ministry. It's Called The Real Meaning of Perfection, written by Tracie Miles.

"So you are also complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every rule and authority." Colossians 2:10 (NLT)

I recently earned the unofficial title of mom-of-the-year. How? I made muffins. Not just plain ol' muffins, mind you. Chocolate chip and blueberry muffins in the cute, baby-muffin pan.

I had risen early, pre-heated the oven, and wiped the sweat from my brow, as I quietly set about my muffin-making task, just like a good Proverbs 31 woman would do. As the muffins began to appear plump and golden, the savory aroma permeated the house.

Then it happened.

My children came bolting down the stairs as if the house were on fire. One of them jumped up and down and screeched in delight, while the other one yelled, "Yeah, muffins!" They paced the kitchen until the coveted pastries were done; then gobbled them up. Everyone was happy. I was thanked, appreciated and hugged. Even though they acted as if I had never fed them breakfast before, it was still awesome. I coveted my new mom-of-the-year entitlement.

Shortly after, it was time to leave for school. I hurried everyone along, with instructions for teeth brushing, book bag gathering, and snack grabbing activities.

Then it happened.

My son exclaimed that his coat was missing, even though it had been in his hand ten minutes earlier. Apparently the coat fairy had snatched it and hid his coat in her invisible closet.

In the process of his frantic coat search, my son accidentally stepped on my daughter's toe. Not just any ol' toe, but the toe that had incurred a serious stumping injury the day before. Instant drama, tears, accusations of doing it on purpose, and flying Band-aids filled the air.

In the midst of the excitement, my other daughter discovered that the coat fairy had taken her coat too - and possibly her shoes. She was having trouble locating her things due to the onslaught of incoming text messages that kept distracting her search efforts. Thus, threats were made about losing phone privileges if it continued to interfere with life itself.

Now that my son was going to be tardy for school - again - because my daughters were not ready, again (primarily due to excessive hair-straightening obligations as opposed to muffin eating) - a heated discussion took place before we finally made it out the door.

My wonderful mom-of-the-year-Proverbs-31-woman award fell to the floor and shattered in a million tiny shreds of disappointment. Calmness, patience, mercy and joy flew out the window quicker than those Band-aids had flown around the kitchen.

Our happy, peaceful, muffin-eating, hug-giving, laugh-sharing moments seemed fuzzy memories. As we drove to school, the chaos slowly slipped away. Emotions calmed. Tears dried.

Positive, loving discussions occurred and I gradually began to feel like maybe I wasn't that bad of a mother after all.

Driving home, I realized that I was holding myself up to unrealistic standards - my own standards for perfection and performance, not God's.

You see, my heart longed to be like that seemingly perfect Proverbs 31 mom. The kind of mom who is always patient, helpful, calm, understanding and reasonable in every circumstance. The kind of mom who never loses her temper. The kind of mom whose children arise every morning and call her blessed, with or without muffins.

It's easy to get hung up on the woman described in Proverbs 31. We begin to believe that God holds us to an unrealistic standard of goodness and perfection. But God sees perfection differently than we do.

Webster's defines the word 'perfect' as "being complete; lacking in nothing." God knows we cannot be perfect physically, but He does desire that we become complete spiritually. Our spirit can be perfect through the blood of Christ, even when our flesh fails.

Our efforts to model the Proverbs 31 woman should be focused on the love that was behind her actions, not the actions themselves. This woman is simply one whose outward actions were a result of a heart being transformed into Christ-likeness. She was exemplary because God's intervention had influenced her life, not because her human efforts were perfect.

So I've decided that my love for my children, not what I cook them for breakfast, will be what determines my attitude and identity today. How about you?

Dear Lord, draw me close to You. Transform my heart, and motivate me to desire completion in You, as opposed to my own standards of perfection. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Boo!

We don't really get in to Halloween that much around here, especially this year. The kids enjoy dressing up & walking around to a few doors to trick or treat. This year I felt like we had a mock Halloween since it was on a Sunday(maybe that's why it felt different?)I can't remember the last time it was on a Sunday. For the last 5 Halloweens we've had the same family over for dinner, and to trick or treat around our cul-de-sac. Boy has the group grown, what started out with 2 blonde little girls is now a group of 6 little darlings. Here are a few pictures, this year I didn't get hardly any pictures...sighhh...I felt bad about it actually, but I did manage a few. Nolan was Buzz Lightyear(although the hood on his costume had major malfunction ;) and Liv was Jesse. The Rufflings were dressed as characters from Pooh & Hundred Acre Wood. Haha, and I almost forgot, Gam & Papa Walker stopped by and Gam always dresses up in some random wacky costume...gotta love it. I also put a few of the kids carving pumpkins. Oh little Miss O is so much like her mama with textures and smells. We had a good laugh when she was trying to clean out the inside of her pumpkin.