All the good things.

It's literally been a month since I posted a "real" blog post.  It hasn't been disinterest, or even the more likely over-commitment and busy-ness that has kept me from blogging, though to be sure we've been busy.  Mostly I've been thinking, processing, and living.  Our lives are full, exciting, typical, beautiful and in most ways very happy.  This last year so much right happened.  It's important to dwell...to sit with it and soak it all in, to breath deeply of the aroma, to watch with fresh, attentive eyes, to appreciate, consider, and examine each and every blessed event, person, moment.  This is what I've been doing.

I've never in my life felt this way before. Oliver Wendell Holmes said:  "The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving."  What I know is that something within me has shifted.  Is it Grandmotherhood, or feeling each tick of the clock as a middle-aged woman?  Probably these and a lot more but I know that things are different.  I'm on the move...filled with an intense feeling of longing and determination, and a healthy dose of discontentment with the status quo, I just know within myself that it's time to address a few long held dysfunctions, confront excuses, and to march with purpose toward the goals I have for myself.  I'm not talking about the average New Year's resolutions, I'm talking about internal work that must be done - growth and maturity.  In the days, weeks, and months ahead I will go there, do the work, and things will be never be the same. 

I saw this quote online:

 If you want something you've never had before, 

you've got to do something you've never done before." 

- Drina Reed

So I'm doing.

Speaking of doing...here are some of the things we've been doing lately...

Right before Christmas I celebrated my 44th birthday doing my favorite thing...being with my family:

Yes that is Peter in the background drinking directly from the bottle of sparkling grape juice.  Go figure.  :)

I'm doing what I love best...holding Miss Eva!  The best Birthday gift EVER!!!  

Speaking of Miss Eva - Here are many of the funny faces she makes:

I LOVE that girl!  So Blessed!

We had a wonderfully busy and a bit hectic Christmas.  I didn't take a lot of pictures but I did get this one:

I SO love this man!  He is so sweet with Eva, and I love to see him holding her.

And on January 2nd we had the pleasure of babysitting our 1st grandchild for the very 1st time:

 Check out the way she loves her Grandpa:

We had a snow storm and you would've thought we'd had feet instead of 1/2 an inch:

The commute to work was hideous:

It took forever to get to work because we were going only this fast - not kidding:

Then after the snow came the flooding:

Before:

 After:

And there were lots of sweet moments like these:

 

I love this face:

She has the CUTEST booboo lip, but I have yet to catch it in a picture...but I'm still trying.

Next to Eva in my heart is my Mattie.
Here we are blogging together(while Timothy sleeps on the other side of the bed): 

And Timothy's nephew Jeremy came to visit from Ohio...Aww it's SO sweet to see the cousin love:

Recently we had WW3 in our livingroom as the kids had a Nerf gun war:

I got the biggest kick out of Joel's approach:

The laughter and squeals were continuous and like music to this Mom's ears:

And of course I have to close with a couple of pictures of Eva:

Have a Blessed Lord's Day!  J.