EL-BO!

Okay, so that really says ELMO! After Christmas yesterday, I am beginning to believe we could open an Elmo souvenir store in our home! I don't have pictures ready to put up since I have one sick little mister and I'm running on very little sleep, but yesterday was great.

Our son now has enough Elmo shirts to wear to school for an entire week without me washing! We own 3 pair of Elmo pjs, 6 new Elmo movies, another "lovie" Elmo, an Elmo medical kit, 2 Elmo puzzles (and a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse one!), an Elmo mailbox shape sorter, who knows how many more Elmo books, 2 Elmo guitars, an Elmo cellphone, 2 Elmo activity books, an Elmo stocking, and who knows what else I'm fogetting! But you can definitely get the idea. This is in addition to everyting Elmo we already own!

As Hayden opened each gift (wrapped in Elmo wrapping paper, mind you), he yelled, "Elbo!" and then put the box aside and reached for another gift. Santa left a Jeep for us to ride outside and a tent with a tube to climb through. Nana and Papa got him a perfect Hayden-sized blue chair (in which he's watching MMClubhouse right now) and a school bus climbing toy with a slide. Talk about in love with that thing! And he got tons of clothes and more Elmo toys from Aunt Christy, Uncle Joseph, Devin, and NaNa. The only downside to this entire weekend has been a sick baby and missing the Christmas Eve service. Oh well; gotta get the boy well!

Pretty soon we'll be upgrading his room and transforming the front bathroom into "his" bathroom. And in just 4 months, we'll have a 2 year old on our hands! Time to start planning the Elmo party now!!

An OCD Person + a German?

Okay, so let's just say that a self-proclaimed OCD person does not do well with a procrastinating German teenager! We had been telling Pia to pack for about two weeks, and I believe she sincerely thought she was, but suffice it to say, we were still stuffing clothes and souvenirs into suitcases at the airport!

The good news is she's home. And only about an hour 10 min. later than her scheduled landing time. Sunday night was a mess. She's already emtional, David gets online to go ahead and check her in, and he sees "travel advisory." Yep, if you've been keeping up at all with the weather in Europe, they're having some of the worst snowstorms in history! So then Pia is blubbering like crazy that she might not be able to get home for Christmas, and surprisingly, we all stay calm. So while we work on that situation, Pia and I finish packing her duffle bag...that starts coming apart at the seams. So at 10:30 I'm calling my folks up the street asking if they having a suitcase that if they never see again it's not the end of the world (my dad had just gotten in from Japan Saturday as well). Thankfully, they do! So we RE-PACK one bag and shove as much more in as we can! I didn't realize, though, that her bed and bathroom are still covered. Talk about one stressed host mom!

But she had an amazing time and made about a million memories and she's home safely. Now, I have to clean my house from top to bottom, finish nearly all my Christmas shopping, and spend as much time with Hayden as possible!

Ps. I still have Thanksgiving-now pictures to post! Sorry for the delay. Oh, and Pia's surprise party went well!

One Week

Pia leaves a week from tomorrow, and it's amazing how much we have to do in that one week! She's already filled her largest suitcase and still has an entire room to sort through! Not to mention, we're doing something for her this weekend and she'll have even more stuff to pack. It's the final week before Christmas break, and it's going to be an emotionally, physically, and mentally draining 5 days at work and at home. There are too many places to be and too much to do before she leaves! I have to get off campus as soon as we're free Friday in order to prepare for Saturday.

I'm also learning much about myself here in the past few days. Some of these thoughts I can share and some are meant for David and myself. I realized something today, though, that we're going to have to do if our marriage is going to work. Suffice it to say that there is much going on in the family arena. (Sidenote: We are not in trouble or anything, but I've come to a realization. Sorry; can't share it, either.) I think we're in for some huge life changes soon, and it really does frighten me not to know what those are. I know He knows and I'm trying to rest in that fact, but this is immensely difficult for me. Who knows where we'll be a year from now?

Sentences

Hayden has begun stringing sentences together. That definitely makes for interesting, and alarming, conversations.

For example, the other day he sat at the kitchen table messing with my centerpiece (he also likes to test the waters by climbing on the table, but I digress). I told him to stop, and he replied, "But I just wanna...". I stopped him cold and said, "I don't care what you want to do; you will stop right now." I looked at Pia to make sure that's what he had said.

He also likes to push the hamper into the bathroom next to the vanity, climb on top, and check himself out in the "big" mirror. Sometimes he tries to stand on the hamper (it's not very sturdy), so David told him repeatedly to get down, to which he said, "I'm trying to tell you...".

We have a long road ahead. And I forsee many, many visits to the ER in years to come with our fearless child.

More

Via text tonight, David and I both discussed how we feel called to more. We've let ourselves become too comfortable and we've let ourselves like money and stuff too much. Children's ministry is weighing heavy on my heart; I don't like the person I'm becoming as a teacher. That's very difficult to explain and express, but just know I feel that way.

That said, I'm not sure what to do about getting back into children's ministry. Start sending out resumes?? Where? I'm going to meet and talk with the children's minister I worked under for a few years; maybe she'll have some wise advice for me. I'm not called to stay on the Gulf Coast; I know that much. But I have no idea where God will lead us.

Children's Ministry

Children's ministry has been heavy on my heart and mind lately. I love the school environment; I love interacting with my students; I love that I feel "important" at school. But I can't shake the feeling that maybe I should go back to children's ministry. I am not even sure how to put all of the thoughts about this that I have down. So I'm not really sure where to go from here. I think I'm going to begin shooting out some resumes just to see the feedback I get. I still have half a year+ of school so I know I'm locked in until the end of May. There's just this tug on my heart. So any prayer warriors that want to join in as I seek a direction, feel free!

"Little" Big Al

Halloween 2010