Open for business!

It's official -- I'm in business for myself. :) I've been having fun making pendants out of Scrabble tiles and pretty paper and have been told that I could sell them, so I set up an Etsy shop and I am open for business! Etsy is an online marketplace for buying and selling all things handmade, so they have made it really easy for me. In just my first day (yesterday) I sold two pendants and had a local shop owner contact me to see if I'm interested in consigning some of my items. It was a great way to start my 'grand opening' day!

My mom came up with the name BrownEyedPeas as I wanted something that reflected two of the most important people in my life and my inspiration for everything beautiful. My two sweet 'peas' both have brown eyes, so I thought it was perfectly fitting and a fun twist.

Come check out BrownEyedPeas.etsy.com and see what I have to offer, and help me spread the word to your friends who are looking for something original to wear or as a unique gift! Check back often as I will add new things all the time... or as inspiration strikes.

Inspection

We had an inspection today on our condo. Not the kind that happens when you are under contract to sell your home -- no, we're not there yet. But the kind of inspection that happens when your HOA is suing the homebuilder for building defects. Fun times.

We were told that someone would come by at 10:30 this morning and would need access to the attic entries. We were pleasantly surprised that they were accurate about the timing. But someONE was a bit of a stretch. At one point I counted TEN people in just the living room and kitchen, and that didn't include the people in the bedrooms, the loft, and the attics.

The rep from the law firm was very nice and informative. Turns out that each subcontractor from the original construction was allowed to send an inspector. Therefore, there were a gazillion people here, each looking at a different aspect from drywall to plumbing to roofing to flooring and so forth. I wish I had known the extent of it and was kind of embarrassed, wishing I had cleaned up a little more and moved more things out of the way. I found myself saying "Oh, just kick those toys if they are in your way... Here, let me move the highchair for you... Oops, careful not to step on the plastic Easter eggs..."

I was extremely grateful that John made sure to schedule this appointment for a time when he could come home and be here for it. Maybe I've watched the news one too many times in my life, but the headline "Woman is attacked in her home by someone impersonating a repairman" tends to take hold of my active imagination. Besides that, the arrival of these many men (and one woman) as they streamed into our home made my baby cry, so I spent the first few minutes comforting him while John got the lowdown on their plan. We also didn't know about the third attic entry in our loft closet, so John emptied the contents onto the guest bed while the inspectors hauled in their ladders, plastic tarps, digital cameras, and clipboards.

They were all very nice, calling us "ma'am" and "sir" and asking about the ages of our kids, etc. My ever-hospitable husband offered to make a pot of coffee, though they all politely declined as they continued their work.

They scheduled an hour and a half to get their inspection done, but after an hour the last gentleman was leaving, thanking us, and wishing us a good day, as they all had. (Seriously, polite!) John and I looked at each other and joked about them all being gone, saying "How do we really know? Maybe one of them is still in the attic, waiting for us to fall asleep tonight..." [insert nervous laughter here]

Really, I need to watch less TV.

More Easter fun

Lucy investigates her new "Easter Story" book from her basket.















Joey loves his new plush elephant ball. (It says "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!" in stitching on the back -- perfect for our little opera singer!)















Oooooo, another egg? I want that one, too!















Yeah, yeah, I've got a tooth. Get your paws off my mug! I'm not gonna show you!















Oh, oh, I've got a great idea! I'm going to go down this muddy slide in my yellow Easter dress and white tights while Daddy watches and takes pictures!




















I love my sister!




















I love my brother! :)

Easter Sunday

Our family wishes you a Happy Easter! We did in fact get snow last night (it just wouldn't feel like Easter in the Rockies without it!) but by the time we left for church this morning it had melted and dried and there wasn't a single cloud in the vast blue sky. Beautiful!

We started our morning with the sharp realization that Josiah cut his first tooth last night! I say sharp because it was with my pinky finger that he chose to reveal this new development. I almost cried, knowing that he sweet gummy grin will soon be replaced with those pearly whites. We tried to take a picture of the little bud, but it's still too small to see.

Here are a few pictures of us in our Easter finest. John's sister Elizabeth (who Lucy calls 'Bubba') joined us for church and dinner and took the lovely family shot.





I hope you have had some time this Easter to celebrate that Jesus paid the price of his life for us, and that he is alive and offers us LIFE, abundant and eternal!

Tragic day for chickie

Last Easter my daughter got a neat little toy -- a chickie that fits in the palm of your hand and is made of some kind of rubber/sponge substance. When you put it in water, submerged for several days, it grows to be about 4 times its original size.

Over the last year Lucy has had this poor chickie in and out of the water so many times to watch it grow, then dry it off and let it shrink, only to start the metamorphosis over again. But when she went to take a bath last night, chickie's head somehow got twisted and ended up barely hanging by a rubber thread. Oops!

Earnest waling and mourning ensued.

John and I teetered between hilarity and horror, knowing if we laughed at the odd sight of this chipper chickie whose head was barely still attached it would negate Lucy's feelings, and if we overreacted at the tragedy of the loss of this beloved toy that it would fuel her sobs. We tried as calmly as we could to express that we understood her sadness without going overboard.

Then she asked us if we could tape it. I accidentally let a little chuckle slip out. Tape seems to be the cure-all in Lucy's world, and I certainly wish it was on most days. But clearly, no amount of scotch, masking, or duct tape would fix this chickie's ill.

We had her say goodbye and sent chickie to trash heap heaven.

It became most clear to me through this event that our family is nowhere near ready for a real pet -- especially one with a short life expectancy!

A few of my favorite things

Josiah can't resist the taste of a good basket. Mmmmm!





















Lucy "decorates the snow" with rocks while sporting my new favorite I-want-to-dress-myself combo: pink camo and leopard print.















Joey, flying high on daddy's feet.















Big sister's turn. It never gets old, does it, Lucy?

Illogical Questions

My daughter and I have some interesting conversations in the car. Not much else to do, while we are all strapped in but look, listen, and talk. That is, when we can hear each other above the noise of her joyfully babbling baby brother.

I'm having some difficulty answering some of her questions. I knew this day would come, but I had no idea how frustrating it would be for us both. I don't believe it's lack of intelligence on my part (I know why the sky is blue) and it's not because I can't phrase things simply enough or come down to her level. It's more because of the issue of logic. Or lack thereof in the mind of a 3 1/2 year old.

For example, we live near a small airport and often drive by the runways on our way to go pretty much anywhere. Lucy loves planes and helicopters, so we often point them out to her when she doesn't already see them coming. One particular plane was landing, and it looked like a very old World War 2 flyer. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Look, Lu, there's a plane landing.
Lucy: I see it!
Me: Wow, that's a really old plane.
Lucy: Why?
Me: (long pause) Um, it's just old.
Lucy: (sounding like she's going to cry) But why is it old?

How does one answer the question of why something is old? Because it's old! I think I fumbled my way through the explanation that it was made a long time ago and has been flying for many years. Not sure any of that meant anything to a girl who can't keep straight the difference between tomorrow and last week.

Another similar conversation took place on our way home yesterday:

Lucy: Mommy, when is daddy going to be home?
Me: He'll be home in about 3 hours, honey.
Lucy: But when?
Me: After your nap.
Lucy: But when?
Me: Sometime around 6 o'clock.
Lucy: But WHEN?

These exchanges often frighten me. Lucy hates to be misunderstood and becomes an emotional ticking time bomb. We often have to find quick resolution or change the subject ("You want to listen to Veggie Tales?") to avoid making her cry.

As I have mentioned previously, I've often thought I took the wrong path in college and should have studied science because it appeals to me and makes sense to me. I've always believed I can answer my children's questions on things like why crickets make noise and why we see only part of the moon most nights and why some things float in water and others sink. But as prepared as I am for questions that make sense, I have no idea what to do with the ones that don't.

As for the question of when, I have helped Lucy make a paper chain that counts down the days until a big event (like Christmas or special visitors), and I let her tear off one link each morning at breakfast so she can count the number of days remaining. But explaining the passage of hours to one whose mind can't quite grasp the concept yet is still beyond me.

How do you answer the illogical questions?

Imaginary Friends

Sometime shortly after Josiah was born this summer, Lucy introduced me to her imaginary friend "Amy" and insisted that she come everywhere with us. That was perfectly fine with me, because Amy seemed fairly well-behaved, could sit anywhere in the car that she wanted, and didn't require me to feed her. She helped keep Lucy busy on the playground and played follow-the-leader and gave her someone to talk to while I was nursing or changing diapers in another room.

Then "Ama" (pronounced AH-muh) appeared on the scene. Suddenly Amy and Ama were inseparable, argued with each other and with Lucy, and required me to hold at least one of their hands when walking through a parking lot. I put a stop to that pretty quickly and told Lucy that Amy and Ama would have to hold each others hands and get along or they would have to stay home. That seemed to work.

When I was much (much) younger I remember having an imaginary friend who I would talk to
when no one else was around. As the youngest child I think I was exercising my right to be bossy. My neighbor had a younger brother, and I vaguely remember pretending my imaginary friend was a little sister. But I don't ever remember 'introducing' her to other people. She was my private friend.

Now that Joey is seven months old, we are seeing less of Amy and Ama, but they still show up on occasion. Sometimes their presence is quite helpful, like when I suggest Lucy go and play with them in her room or teach them a new game--it keeps her busy when I'm unable to be her playmate.

My favorite line from a recent lunchtime at the table with Lucy: "Mommy, it's quiet in here. It's just you and me and Joey... and Amy and Ama."

I can't help but smile.

Thoughts on Forgiveness

I want to share few things that God has used this last week to hit me over the head on the topic of forgiveness (nobody's favorite) where He has shown me that I clearly need some work:

"What are seventy-seven sins of others against me when I have innumerable sins against God? [Matthew 18:22-34]... When a person truly recognizes the greatness of one's debt to God, the great cost of Christ's sacrifice to take in Himself the consequences of one's sin, it is impossible to refuse to forgive another the lesser debts of personal offenses. To refuse to forgive another's sins toward you means that you have refused to see your own sins before God and that indeed you have never truly received his forgiveness."

--A. Wetherell Johnson, Matthew, Lesson 22

"Forgiveness is an act of strength. Some people see forgiveness as a flaw in a weak person. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It takes little inner fortitude to harbor anger, resentment, or hate. It takes a great deal of courage to lay down one's anger and seek to walk away in peace."

--Unknown

"Choosing to be unforgiving is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die."

--Unknown

"When I finally learned that forgiveness doesn't make the other person right, it makes you free, I found great breakthrough in that area. I always felt that forgiving someone meant I was saying, 'What you did is okay.' But that's not the case at all. Forgiveness is trusting that God is the God of justice He says He is and saying, 'Father, I won't hold that person to myself with unforgiveness anymore.' It's acknowledging that God knows the truth and allowing Him to be the judge, because He is the only one who knows the whole story."

--Stormie Omartian, The Power of a Praying Parent

Laminin and the Whirlpool Galaxy

If you happen to be a fan of Chris Tomlin and have his latest CD "See the Morning," then you probably also have the DVD that came with it. If you don't, then get your hands on it now! In the midst of the concert on DVD, Chris introduces Louie Giglio who gives an amazing presentation about the greatness of God. It particularly appealed to the side of me that believes I should have been a scientist.

He began by talking about the vastness of the universe, and how God basically breathed out the stars that are infinitely bigger than we are. There is no way to describe how tiny I felt after he described how huge these stars were. The Whirlpool Galaxy was just one of the examples he gave. It is 31 million light years away. But here's the amazing part -- just a few years ago NASA's Hubble telescope was able to capture an image of the core of this gigantic star, which looks like this:


Wow. Anybody else see that cross?

He went from the stars in the universe to the opposite end of the spectrum: the tiniest parts of the human body. Beyond cells and DNA, Giglio introduced us to laminin. Laminin is a protein molecule that adheres the cells of our body together. It's the reason we don't fall apart. Though that in itself isn't that groundbreaking, the structure of it is:

From the most gigantic starts in the universe to the most minuscule parts of the human body, the significance of these images certainly isn't lost on me. Of all the symbols God could have used, he created these things to show us the symbol of the cross, the symbol of his Son, Jesus Christ!

Colossians 1:16-17 "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible... and in him all things hold together."