Clara-isms

Yesterday a little girl started begging for "Chocolate Tea"... known to the rest of us as hot chocolate! :-)



A week or so ago, the same little girl and I were sharing some food out of the same bowl. I was waiting for her to take a bite with her fork, and then she decided to wait for me, and said "Go for it." :-)

Passing On A Blessing...

Stephen and I have really been enjoying the daily devotional book "One Day At A Time", by William MacDonald.

Today's verse and thoughts particularly stood out to me and I'd like to share part of it with you. I found it a blessing, encouragement, and convicting.

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 3:18

"The Bible teaches that we become like what we worship. That important insight is found in today's text. Let's break it down this way:
But we all- that is, all true believers;

with open or unveiled face- sin causes a veil between our faces and the Lord. When we confess and forsake the sin, we have an open or unveiled face;

beholding as in a glass- the glass or mirror is the Word of God, in which we behold

the glory of the Lord - meaning His moral excellence. In the Bible we gaze upon the perfection of His character, the beauty of all His works and ways;

are changed into the same image - we become like Him. We are changed by beholding. The more we are occupied with Him, he more like Him we become. This change is

from glory to glory - from one degree of glory to another. The change does not take place all at once. It is a process that continues as long as we behold Him. The transformation of our character is effected

even as by the Spirit of the Lord-the Holy Spirit produces likeness to Christ in all those who gaze by faith upon the Savior as He is revealed in the Bible.

....I do know that reverent occupation with the Son of God produces moral resemblance to Him.

The way to holiness is through gazing upon the Lord Jesus. It is not ordinarily possible to think of Christ and of sin at the same time. During those moments when we are taken up with Him, we are most free from sin. Our goal then should be to increase the percentage of our time when we are beholding Him."

~William MacDonald

I tend to ask the Lord Jesus to cleanse me and make me what He wants me to be... and then rush on with my day, my thoughts, my activities, etc., instead of focusing on Him as I go about the responsibilities He has given me.

What or Who are my thoughts full of today? What or Who am I showing that I truly worship by my choices in thought, action and word?

Help me Lord Jesus to make you the center of all my life!

The Outdoors-Man and the Daisy Princess

We tried out a new park today. It was beautifully surrounded by a woodsy area and was so lush and green. The playground didn't have much to offer, but I think the kids had as much or more fun playing with sticks, leaves, etc. They make the best toys!!! Clara kept wanting to go plunging into the woodsy area to explore. Maybe we'll bring Daddy back there sometime and she can do some of that!

My Little Lady

Wearing Mommy's hat earlier today....




Our little Clara turned three on Saturday! Where did those years go? Sometimes I look at her and it just strikes me what a big girl she already is!

She had a VERY fun day, starting off the night before by celebrating with our friends at Bible study with cupcakes, candles and being serenaded with "Happy Birthday To You". She blew out her three candles... with three blows! :-) Saturday we had waffles and she enjoyed opening gifts and spending much of her day trying out her new treasures! Daddy grilled hamburgers for supper and we had french fries (pronounced "fren fries"), which is probably her all time favorite food! We probably could have JUST had "fren fries" and that would have been even better! :-) Supper was topped off with ice cream cake! It was her first birthday after starting to really connect with the concept of birthdays, and it was fun to watch her experience the day. One of the things that struck us was the way she took time to enjoy her gifts and not just rush to open the next one. She would be quite focused on looking through the new book and Mommy and Daddy would be the ones eager to have her open the next gift! :-)

She is growing up so fast! She's a good big sister through, like all of us, she can be selfish and she can also be rough! However, Hilkiah is starting to dish out more of the roughness himself so she's having to put up with quite a bit too! Clara's vocabulary is ever expanding and we often hear her singing phrases from various songs. The other day it was "One day He's coming, Oh glorious day!" Stephen and I were both right there and it just melted our hearts!

We love you, precious Clara! May you grow up to be a lovely young lady who comes to love the Lord Jesus with all of your heart!

Talents Developing Before Our Eyes

Hilkiah has been taking "great strides" in developing his walking ability! I was very impressed to see today that he is still able to do quite well, even with his "work boots" on. (Anna, weren't you with me when we found those at Salvation Army?)



Clara is getting very good with her tricycle talents! :-)

Lookin' Mighty Fine!

Hil was looking so sharp and grown-up on Sunday, that I had to take some shots of the sweet little man!

Let Her Works Praise Her...

My little lady very willingly started helping fold a load of laundry today. Even after Momma walked away for a bit, she kept at it. And, oh, was Momma ever tickled-pink to see this collection of neatly folded wash cloths and hand towels! There is something soooo thrilling about seeing your little one make an accomplishment like that! I had to share the impressive work!



"Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates." Proverbs 31:31

Just looking at the picture makes me happy! What a big girl and what a helper!

Tail Gate Picnic

We'd heard a local BBQ place highly recommended and decided to give it a try this afternoon. It was totally packed so Stephen decided on take-out and we had ourselves a tail gate picnic!

Gorgeous!

Gorgeous morning here! It rained earlier and is still cloudy, but it is so fresh, cool and beautiful out. Stephen had to go in to work for a couple hours to run a test, and the kids and I ended up taking a little walk. Here's a couple pics from our outing.

What happens when you give a one year old a chocolate animal cracker?





Clara seemed to really enjoy the outing... running around investigating, picking up sticks and rocks. At one point she started turning around with her arms out and saying "beautiful". I had her do a pose for me.

It Flew By...

Then: May 4th 2010




Now: May 4, 2011







I know, it's a lot of pictures... but at least the grandparents will appreciate it! :-) Another thing the grandparents will like... if you blow up the picture where his mouth is wide open... you'll see the molar he is now sporting! That makes a total of nine teeth now!

Little man, we love you so much and you have become sooooo precious to our hearts! Your smiles and laughs are such rays of sunshine in our lives. Hilkiah, you're our gift from the LORD! Happy Birthday!

First Steps

Hil took his first steps and maintained his balance last Saturday. This was taken last Monday. He is still working on his new skill, but who taught him how to be a comedian at the same time? Sometimes he will squat up and down, up and down just-because-he-can.



Because the clientele of this blog site appreciates videos, I am supplying this BONUS video:



Today, you also get a BONUS to the BONUS:



Enjoy the vids.

Gracie made chipati (Indian bread) and chickpea curry. They both came out splendid!

Bananas, Baby Steps and Curry!

We got treated to some sibling cuteness the other night as Clara shared her banana with little bro! Though he looks a little overwhelmed he did seem to enjoy the experience overall, as he kept opening up for more. In about the last week he has made a noticeable increase in the amount of solids he's willing/interested in eating, which has been fun.




Another big thing for our little man... over the last few weeks he would occasionally take a step or two as he lunged at you or something else to hold on to. Then on Saturday, while at our friends' home, he took two more steady steps toward me! And since then, he has taken several more! Stephen captured about 5 or 6 steps last night on his phone camera... we will have to download that soon! And tomorrow is a big day for our little guy!

On a totally unrelated note, tonight is our vegetarian night and I'm planning to try a garbanzo bean curry. Here's the link for what I'm thinking to try. Stephen and I enjoy Indian food and I've been enjoying experimenting with some new recipes!