A retrospective . . . November

Please forgive me. You know how I said I had some “making up” to do when it came to the blog. Well . . . here it is. What I’ve discovered since we’ve established this blog is that this serves as a digital scrapbook of our lives. Unfortunately, all of November, December and a good chunk of January are missing, and well, some pretty big things happened those months. So, I am going to attempt and cover those months in a few posts that will be picture heavy, which means at least when I look back, it will be laden with memories too. I don’t blame you if you’d rather bypass the next couple of posts if watching slideshows of other people’s lives doesn’t interest you too much. I selfishly admit, this is for me so I have some sort of documentation of what happened when I make that elusive scrapbook for Alexa Hope. I no longer rely on my own memory – it’s faulty & needs defragmenting.

MY PRECIOUS FAMILY

My sis’ family - Mark, Holly, Rylen & Layton, Mimi and Pop & our crew.

** You’ll hopefully be seeing more of our little family’s session by Shannon Ho in the weeks to come (hint: you’ll need to check-out the blog’s banner)

RYLEN’S 12TH & KELS’ 34TH BIRTHDAYS (We share the same day!!)

CELEBRATING BEDLAM VICTORY (51-48 – it was a thing of beauty)
--We’re only sharing pics from this game as it was the only game we attended & actually won this year! We were beginning to wonder if we were the bad luck.

JDRF Walk in Tulsa (Our cousin, Connor, was the lil’ man of honor)

LAST PIC OF ALEXA WITH PACIFIER (sniff, sniff)
--I have to admit she looks pretty silly with it in her mouth . . . now.

THANKSGIVING – We celebrated in Edmond at my sister’s home. She was the hostess with the mostest.

Our Thanksgiving wreath. Everyone was given three leaves to share their greatest reasons to give thanks. Can’t wait to do this again next year.

These were my grandmother, Nonie’s, everyday salt & pepper shakers. Make no mistake, she was an incredibly classy lady – incredibly. I love, however, that she used nail polish to distinguish them from one another. There must’ve been magic in those shakers because she was a brilliant cook – legendary actually. How precious to have a little piece of her on the Thanksgiving table with us. I can only remember three Thanksgiving we didn’t spend in her home growing up. I treasure those memories. Eight years later and it still doesn’t feel right without her.

I’m not even going to ask – a Thanksgiving unicorn, perhaps.

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD
--This year my sweet friend, Candelon & her son, Jagur, joined us in the festivities. Unfortunately, we were so serious about packing & sorting, I didn’t take anymore pictures!

For the beauty of the earth . . .

I love that children are fascinated with God’s creation – even if it’s a weed. Their eyes and minds aren’t yet distracted with the demands and complexities of life. They see creation in its purest form . . . simple, undisturbed, unhurried.


When Alexa and I ended up spending a week in Dallas due to the first round of work being done on our stained concrete, we would often take walks with Pop (my dad) down to the duck pond. Let’s face it, there isn’t much scenic in this country at this time of the year. However, the dandelions were blooming and Alexa was immediately drawn to them. On two separate occasions, we spent an hour picking these blooms (which bring terror to most home owners) and throwing them into the pond. Then, we’d walk around the pond to see where the current took them. Alexa also enjoyed “pretend” sniffing them. She said they smelled “so good,” and she also liked pretending they were her balloons.

Waiting patiently to see where the dandelions drifted. Here they come!!

Try explaining to an almost three-year-old how that yellow flower turns into this.

Alexa enjoyed walking along the rocks with Pop. They’re pretty tight buddies.

Here’s to slowing down and being fascinated, once more, by the simple things.

Happy Heart Day!

So . . . I realize this is a totally commercial-driven holiday, but I do love an excuse to let people know I love them and not feel guilty about downing empty-calories I was going to eat anyway. Here’s how V-day 2013 went down at the Kennedys.

Alexa was thrilled with heart waffles topped with PB, nutella & heart sprinkles.



Alexa’s googly-eyed V-day cards. I can’t take credit for them. I got the idea from Parents magazine & elaborated. Alexa helped punch out the hearts.

Alexa made this heart wreath in Sunday School. I just love displaying her artwork.

Lil’ A was so excited to open her Valentine’s Day card from Mimi & Pop. She kept saying, “I love my card! I love my card!” (The added bonus – stickers). We look forward to receiving Ama & Opa’s as well. It will spread out the “I love my card” comments. We are still big fans of snail mail.

Then, we stopped by Daddy’s office to deliver his handmade card and wish him some V-day love. Hands down . . . these two are my reason to celebrate V-day!!

Alexa drew our family in Daddy’s card. He is the skinny blue man on the left. Mommy is the lady in pink & Alexa is the little blue girl standing on her head. I love her stick figures. They remind me of Giacometti’s sculptors. One of my fave artists.


“Start with sweets . . . end with sweets.” That’s my motto & I’m sticking to it. We capped off our evening with a slice of cookie goodness & a tall glass of milk.

As I head to bed, I soak in the incomprehensible love the Father has lavished on us. I smile. Father, thank you for loving me so well & surrounding me with the undeserved love of my amazing husband, precious daughter, wonderful family & sweet friends. I am blessed!

“But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.” Psalm 103:17-18

Snooooow delighted!

We kept looking out the window in great anticipation. The forecast said snow and Alexa hasn’t experienced much in her almost three years of life. It started as rain, and before we knew it, large wet flakes were floating down from the sky. We had to go investigate. Lil’ A wasn’t sure what to do at first. She was reluctant to go beyond the safety of the garage. However, once Mommy tested the waters, Alexa was all about those wet snowflakes dowsing her hair, coat & rain boats. So much so that we had to throw her first set of clothes in the dryer and put on a dry ensemble. It didn’t stick but we soaked up the damp, chilly delight while we could & enjoyed some puddle hopping too.

To be continued . . .

When we purchased our little home in 2006, my heart was set on one thing – stained concrete. I love the aesthetic of stained concrete – industrial & minimal yet full of warmth & character. Every stained concrete floor is one-of-a-kind. So, we (meaning Chris) ripped out carpet, pulled up linoleum and broke-up tile to prepare the way for concrete magic. After five days of prepping, skimming, staining & sealing, this was the end result. Btw – a contractor worked the magic. I mean, look at that color. My heart skipped a beat!



After six years of wear and tear, however, our floor was beginning to show its age. There was peeling, crazing, divots and a cloudy appearance under our sealer. Apparently, this is often the result when you stain a cement overlay instead of the original concrete foundation. It’s fragile.

We had to face the fact our floor needed repaired & it was going to be (deep breath) messy & smelly. Two things an OCD, Type A gal doesn’t handle very well. The predicted two-and-a-half day repair job ended up taking five days and the end result was a floor that looked more aged & devastated then our original. To add to the sadness, the new stain covering the original stain was much, much too dark. It looked like we had an oil spill in our dining room!

BEFORE

AFTER

After four layers of sealer (in the hopes the newly surfaced cracks & crazing would dissipate), the contractor realized he would need to redo the floor and start from scratch. There was a collective sigh in the room (both of relief & then of dread). If the repair job was messy & smelly – a total redo (meaning buffing & removing cement overlays as well as adding a new one) was going to be messy & smelly on steroids. What we intentioned on being a minor house project had now become a major one. Due to the toxicity of the fumes, you can’t be in your home during these repairs (for good reason). So, we’ll be exiled from our home at least another week and probably much longer since we re-entered our home this go-around a bit prematurely (i.e. the fumes were crazy strong). After three days, we still have the windows open, fans blowing, candles burning & five wallflowers in operation. I forgot how the sealer invades everything – your food, your clothing, your lungs!! I hope we haven’t lost too many brain cells over the weekend. I have done my best to clean-up the dust but I know it will only get worse until the job is done. Here was the temp inside/outside our home on Saturday. Let’s just say – brrrrrrr. And, it’s supposed to snow today. Better bust out the Under Armor.


We’ll see what happens with the redo and when it will actually take place (hopefully this week). My dad keeps asking me if I am interested in tiling our floors. I just laugh and think to myself, “I’ve always been high maintenance. Are we really surprised the floors I like would be any different!?” I mean, who wouldn’t upset their lives and pocketbooks for 178 square feet of concrete!? Thinking back, my niece asked me the first time she saw our new floor, “When will you guys be able to fix this floor? Isn’t this just like the sidewalk?” Um, when you put it that way . . . yes, we do seem to be sacrificing a lot for floors that are essentially stained sidewalks, but that’s how we roll, baby. That’s how we roll.

Last week’s project is “to be continued.” We are hoping it all has a “happy ending.”

Hello world!!

Hi friends . . . it’s me. The gal who used to update this blog. I know. It’s been a LONG time. Trust me. It hasn’t been because I didn’t want to. It’s been on my to do list for months now – “Update the blog.” I just haven’t felt very capable. And so, it hasn’t happened . . . week after week after week. (Sigh)

I’ve had so many thoughtful friends text me, email me or leave a voice message to check on me in light of my absence. I truly, truly appreciate your concern! Thank you for caring enough to check on me. Goodness, I definitely feel like the past three months have been some of the most trying in my adult life. I’ve referred to it as living in the twilight zone. Chris has called it (pause) “interesting.”

It has been a colorful season. So, before I hop back on the hamster wheel of blogging, I wanted to provide a synopsis of the happenings in our family over the past several months and why I took a hiatus.

Ironically, it all started with the ending of a pink pacifier. Sure, the post I wrote in November sounded like life was all rainbows & roses but that was only two days in. Ha! We are still dealing with the affects of removing Alexa’s prized possession. Not that she asks for it – she’s long past that. Long story short – Alexa had to learn how to go to sleep without the help of her pacifier. Almost three months in and I still feel like we are in detox. Sleep became elusive because Alexa didn’t know how to do it anymore. And goodness, I didn’t realize what an amazing sleeper she was until she wasn’t. Waking two to three times a night, screaming frantically for me. Crying for me to rock her. Needing me to sleep by her side. Refusing to take a nap. Climbing into our bed at night. Unable to go to sleep until 11:30, 12:30 or 1:30am. Constantly needing me in her room for bedtime, naptime and anytime she woke-up in-between (and trust me, she knew when I tried to sneak out). Add into the equation our little girl, who has been potty-trained for several months, started peeing in the bed (no doubt, she was always upset about it but it still happened) and refusing to poop again. She also decided she was tired of her crib and wanted to sleep (I mean jump around & play) on the crib mattress on the floor.

Let’s just say it was a lot of transition in the midst of Chris finishing grad school and being gone a lot. Smack dab in the middle of the holiday season – which meant shopping, decorating & traveling for two weeks as well as juggling the demands of my job for Shannon Ho Photography which is always very busy during the holiday season. Oh yeah, and I got sick too.

Needless to say, we were all sleep-deprived. I felt like the mother of a newborn except newborns go back to sleep after you feed them. The real kicker wasn’t the lack of sleep or the totally inability to help Alexa go to sleep, it was the everyday battles (often quite unpredictable) that had only intensified in our strong-willed little whipper snapper. I mean – knock down, drag-out battles that had Mommy & Alexa in tears. We were perplexed. We were weary. We were discouraged. And, I for one, was especially hesitant to go anywhere. I never knew when Alexa might explode and I’d leave a public place flustered & frustrated with a child, irrationally kicking & screaming. Be it getting dressed or eating, everything was a potential battlefield. And, I had to pick my battles wisely.

I sensed this season was far more than just figuring out the most effective discipline/parenting style. I felt it was spiritual warfare, and as far as I was concerned, my daughter wasn’t up for grabs. She is a child of the King and I was going to fight for her on my knees. Her life is a gift and I wasn’t going to let her slip through my hands. I love the way the Father has made our daughter – and I mean that. Even with her will of steel, Alexa can charm the socks off you in a moment’s notice. She’s bright as a button, loves to play pretend, and will sing all day long. No kidding – she is always singing. I know God didn’t make one mistake when He created her. I know He has tremendous purpose for her life. So the last three months have been poured over with tears. With reading and reciting the promises from God’s Word over our daughter. It has been bathed in deep, deep intersessions to the Father for wisdom, for us to admit our weakness & trust His strength, for peace & self-control over our precious child’s heart, for the Enemy to quiet his influence on her behavior, and for the Father to take that beautiful strong-willed heart of our daughter’s & shape into the heart of a warrior princess. One that won’t sway to the world’s influence but one that will stand unflinchingly for Truth.

In the midst of the trenches, I didn’t know how to craft my thoughts into a blog update. Even if it was just a simple update, I was much too weary to write it. In light of all of this, however, we have been encouraged over the last couple of weeks.

Daddy graduated and he is home with us much more now. All of the Christmas hoopla is over (and put away). We are slowly getting back into a new routine. We have taken much of January to talk through our vision for 2013 – evaluating strengths & weaknesses, planning travel adventures, creating project lists and figuring out how we can grow & minister together as a family. Who knows – Chris & I might even have a few dates in the mix!

I know the battles with Alexa aren’t over (are they ever with a strong-willed child) . . . but they have lessened in frequency & intensity. Alexa is learning to go to sleep by herself – in her big girl bed, no less. Of course, I say that and she is currently asleep in ours. She hasn’t had an accident for weeks now. We are all getting more sleep. Alexa and I are being more social again. And, Mommy & Daddy are gaining more effective tools in helping us prevent battles before they begin or in minimizing the intensity of them when they do happen.

There is so much more to share about the events of the past months, and I will definitely try. I apologize some of it will be old news, but I hope to be much more consistent in the days, weeks & months to come. If the blog goes stale again – at least you’ll have a good idea why (wink, wink), and you can pray for us too!