I have been struggling to get out of bed in time to work out before everyone wakes up. If it hits the 6:15 mark then I've lost my window of opportunity. But the last couple of days I've not given up completely...I've just settled for doing my Boot Camp video at home. There is quite a difference! At the gym...no one talks to me, asks for more cereal, spills milk on the table, needs more toilet paper in the bathroom, cries for a bottle, loses their pacifier, needs help getting the markers out, etc. Even with all those distractions - the workout still gets done - it takes a lot longer than the allotted hour of the video - but it is done.

There is also a significant difference in the amount of encouragement I get at home - and a bit of critiquing as well. While Jackson just laughs at everything I do while working out - he thinks I'm jumping around, hopping on one foot, waving my arms in the air just to make him laugh - Amy and Tyler join in on the fun. They cheer me on and push me to finish when I'm tempted to quit. During push-ups, they notice that my feet are in the air while everyone on the video have their feet on the floor. And why did I only do half of the sit-ups and am now lying on the carpet exhausted and groaning instead of completing the set?

And of course, I make it look so easy they think they can do everything I'm doing. Tyler even made "weights" out of his toys so that he wouldn't be missing out!

So, until I can get myself out of bed in time...this is how my workout well transpire. I'm not sure I'm accomplishing anything other than bonding with my kids...but that is worth it! :-)

I was getting ready to give Jackson a bath and I laid him down on the rug next to the tub to get the water ready. As is our routine, I took off his shirt and began to tickle his chubby belly...but immediately stopped when my fingers came in contact with a sticky, thick green substance. Yes...we all now what it is...and all of us moms have been there a time or two (or four or five). It was all over my hands, his backside, his neck, the rug, my sweater, and of course his clothes.

So...here is my plea can someone please create/invent/design a diaper that actually does what it is supposed to do!! Is it that hard to make? Come on, there are a lot of brilliant people out there...surely someone can do it! Please...

Spent five hours at the eye doctor with Amy and Tyler - not fun times!


Folded six loads of laundry when I got home - again...not fun times!


Did the budget and paid bills - definitely not fun times!



Unloaded the dishwasher, cleaned the bathrooms, and mopped the floors - ugh!



After all these not fun times I did NOT want to make dinner! So, Mr Fun himself took us all out for dinner! And not just any dinner...he took us to Kabuto's - a Japanese steak house!


A crazy chef, loud atmosphere, smoking grill and flaming onions made Amy and Tyler a bit apprehensive. But the yummy food definitely won them over. Even Jackson had a great time...albeit a little nervous about the flying shrimp!




Having fun with the fam!




Chopstick wars!


Tyler - future Japanese Chef...



Everything tastes better hibachi style...


To make it all the more fun...we used a gift card that we had gotten at Christmas! Yippee! Definitely more fun when free!

Pain, suffering, loss, despair...a few thousand miles separate us and those that have lost EVERYTHING! They woke up this morning with little to look forward to. Their sky forever dark and the horizon of their life is bleak. How do you start over when everything you have once known is gone...vanished...FOREVER!

Although we did not suffer through the earthquake this last week, our family had its own "earthquake" of sorts. And pain is pain...though its source may be different its affect can be paralyzing.

Thankfully, the God that spoke this world into existence is the same God that reigns over Haiti...Charlotte...Tucson! He has not changed. His heart has not changed. His love for His creation has not changed! His sacrifice, and redemption remains forever the same...

Tyler is a very clever little boy.

Last night, we had cookies after our church service. Apparently there were quite a few left over and Jason brought some home for us. There were a variety last night but as of this morning (thanks to Daddy - aka Cookie Monster) there were only the oatmeal rasin cookies. We also had a sweet friend make us some chocolate chip cookies yesterday as well. So today the kids had to make a choice which cookie they wanted to try. Amy chose the chocolate chip - Tyler the oatmeal rasin. As soon as he bit into it I could tell that Tyler was rethinking his choice. But little did I know he was thinking of a way to rectify his decision. Here is the conversation that followed:

Tyler: My cookie is so good. Probably better than yours, Amy!

Amy: NO! Mine is better.

Tyler: Well, I can't tell unless I taste yours.

Amy: You can have one chocolate chip.

Tyler: No, I need a whole bite. There are ingredients.

Amy: Oh, okay.

Tyler takes a bite of Amy's cookie and says, "Yeah, this is really good. I think your cookie is better."

Now, here's the kicker...the "cookie-transaction-taste-test" took place AFTER Tyler FINISHED his cookie!!!

Nice! Very smooth!

He definitely takes after his FATHER!!!!!!!!!!!

Varying emotions and feelings are stirred up by this single word.
Accountability.
Down it's path we find - humility, brokenness, responsibility, truthfulness, and ultimately sanctification and transformation. The destination is one we all desire...but the route is sometimes too difficult for our pride to endure.
Throughout the ages, God's people have all struggled with this method of personal holiness. Being accountable to anyone is a complete admittance that I am not capable of handling life's pressures on my own. That I am a a sinner who's heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. It is a vulnerable stripping of whatever pretenses I have allowed others to believe about me and it is the bare naked truth of who I really am, with no excuses or rationalizing. It is knowing that I am simply a sinner redeemed by God's grace...and nothing more. All value, worth, acknowledgment belongs to the Lord and is given to me through His Son.
Too often, I have compared myself to others and dismissed myself as passable. Using their righteousness as a measuring stick rather than the Word. But a searing conviction in this area has repeatedly been drawn to the surface. God is calling me closer, higher, deeper, farther...and the only way to get there is to be honest about my sin. To keep short accounts with Him and confess them for what they really are.
Thus, as this new year beckons me forward, I have made out a list of very specific questions. Questions that can not be answered with teetering sincerity. Only the truth will be accepted. There is no hiding once these are placed into the very trustworthy hands of my accountability partner. No turning back to comfortable complacency!
The year of 2010 will be one of undeniable truth. I pray that it has its lasting effects in my life, my home, and my crown in heaven!