And Jos has discovered his toes!
I am so thankful
* for my children, they’re unique personalities, and the gift of watching them grow
* my husband, I love him today more than ever
* my camera, to be able to capture a small part of these memories
* craft a creative outlet
* my home a place for fun, relaxing, family, friends…
My darling girl is just too cute for words sometimes.
Jumpirt = a jumper or a t-shirt… whichever she is referring to at the time
Faysha Wassa = Face Washer
I can ask her to say face washer, and she’ll say it. I can then immediately hold up a face cloth ask her what it is and she’ll revert to her own way of saying it.
I’ve been unwell a bit over the last couple of weeks, a cold, along with a nice huge headache thrown in for good measure. Cayley’s been sick too. She got an egg-ache. 
I know that there were more, but I didn’t write them down, and now they’re gone.
“Find people interesting”
Strange advice, but I know I gravitate toward some personalities, while others slip below my radar.
The advice is from a book by John Piper called Finally Alive, and is followed by a quote from C.S. Lewis:
“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would strongly be tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” –C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1949, p. 14–15)
You might not agree with the worldview that informed Lewis’ understanding, but the logic is impeccable: If you believe human life continues in some coherent form beyond the assumed 80-odd years and into Eternity, there are no unimportant people. Each and every person you see today–behind the checkout, on the road, at the office, veiled by familiarity or obscured by anonymity–is significant.
The Bible anchors this significance to our image-bearing nature; And it is God’s image with whom we are stamped: His portrait and His inscription. We reason, create, value, relate. This resemblance is tarnished in every aspect, yet it remains, pitted and stained, but legal tender nonetheless.
Our culture, having ejected this truth, searches for another ground for our worth. It finds it not in what we are, but in what we do. Life in this picture is the game of rolling your coin down its byways, seeing what accumulates on its surface: toys, degrees, influence, people and experiences. Those with the coolest coating are the winners.
A few months back Tara and I attended a parents meeting for Elisha’s kindy. The discussion at one point revolved around the topic of how to warmly integrate a child who has a mental disorder. It seemed that many parents were at pains to affirm the child’s equality, but stumbled for a way of expressing this without denying the fact of his difficulty, which was the very reason for the discussion. How I wished someone, me?, would say: “God is pretty keen on kids, regardless of what they can and can’t do: He made them, and calls us to love them in the same way.”
What a relief that our dignity and worth are inalienably assured by God.
Took some photos of the kiddies for Mum A for mothers’ day. The children were not very cooperative at all!
Also didn’t have the camera settings quite right and everything came out very blue, have had to fiddle with the photos a lot.
Here’s the best of the many many many that I took. And yes, I did try to get a photo of the three of them together, but they did not work at all!
Here’s an original untouched group shot, just to show you how bad it was!
Happy Mothers’ Day to both our mums. We love you both, and really appreciate everything that you have done and continue to do for us. We pray God’s richest blessings to you.
My Mum
I really love it when my mum helps me.
My mum likes to wear clothes.
My mum always tells me, “To do the right things”
The best thing she does is I don’t know.
It makes her happy when I do the right things.
My mum loves to I don’t know.
I like it when she cuddles me.
The best thing she cooks is burgers.
When my mum shops she likes to buy *shakes head*.
My mum’s favorite household chore is cleaning.
My mum’s favorite TV show is the disc she got for her birthday. (House)
If she could go on a trip, she would go to Melvourne. (Melbourne)
I love my mum because she love me. (There it is… no beautiful)f
The day got off to a wonderful start, Jos let me sleep in until almost six o’clock.
Cayley also got up, but I put her back in her room and locked them in there. I had a little bit of quiet time and then let them out about seven. They went and visited Daddy in bed. Cayley came running down the hall way full pelt… Brett must have reminded her it was Mothers’ Day.
“Mummy!” she cried enthusiastically, “Make my breakfast!”
I received some lovely gifts. Elisha made choc coconut balls and a coathanger for me. He also bought some lovely blue crystal earrings at the mothers’ day stall at school. Cayley made a treasure box at playgroup. And they bought me some ‘Cheeky Monkey’ slippers, which Cayley has hardly taken off since she unwrapped them this morning. I had a hard time convincing her that they actually aren’t hers.
In all seriousness though I am so thankful to be a wife and mother. It is such a joy for me to serve Brett and Elisha and Cayley and little Jos. I’ve been reading ‘Feminine Appeal’ by Carolyn Mahaney this week, and the last little bit I’ve been reading has been about not only serving but also cherishing. I realised that I do the serving part quite well at times, but very often leave the cherishing behind. I pray that in the days, weeks, months and years ahead that I will grow in treasuring my family, and letting them know that I do. Not just doing the things that need to be done for my husband and children, but taking the time to stop and enjoy them too.
Elisha now tells me that he wrote I love my mummy because she loves me… but I’m SURE his name was on the beautiful one. I’ll have to check on Tuesday!
After putting up the cute little video of Elisha, I was a bit sad that I don’t have much of that for Cayley and Jos, due to upgrading my camera to a digital SLR and letting little children use the point and shoot resulting in the point and shoot not working. So I went out and bought one today. Pity I didn’t buy an SD card too! Thought I had one here at home but NOPE.
Happy mothers day to all mums out there. Hope you get spoiled and appreciated.