A Hand Held Goodnight

The boys had things going on until late last night so Elle's, Oklie, and I decided to go stay the night at my parents.......Ellie and I slept in the same room- Instead of putting her in a porta crib like I usually do, I let her sleep on a big girl bed- in the bedroom we were sleeping in there was 2 twin beds- I pushed my twin up against Ellie's bed (her bed was against the wall) so that if she rolled over during the night she would not roll onto the ground.  As I settled into my twin I reached my hand over and grabbed her hand to give her a quick squeeze goodnight- as I was pulling my hand away she grabbed mine and held on..........her little hand holding steady to mine......such a sweet moment- My independent Ellie who is naturally not a big snuggler (we all have to chase her around trying to get a hug)....my precious girl who walked into her first day of pre school this week like an old pro (not even clinging to me once)........

Even after she fell asleep, her little hand was still holding onto mine- I was only going to lay on my twin until she fell asleep and then get up and go read............I couldn't bring myself to let go- to take my hand out of her grasp.....Instead, I laid there- hand in hand with Ellie soaking it all in.....

Thanking the Lord for her

 

Matt tell's Ellie 2 things every day....

'Your a foxy mama' (as she prances around in whatever outfit she is wearing showing off for him)

and

'Your Amazing' (he says this as he gives her a hug goodnight)

 

You are amazing Ellie Marie.....

Amazingly created by an Amazing God to do Amazing things.....

 

 

 

 

10 minute post and a 3000 mile prayer

It's 7:37 p.m.- I am going to give myself 10 minutes to blog..........I have no clue what I am going to blog about but will talk until a rabbit trail turns into a blogging freeway or until I rabbit trail through 10 min :)

My brain feels a bit mushy lately- late nights to bed, chasing a toddler all day, keeping up with teens..........HOLY MOLY it's a whole lot of work!  I took Ellie shopping today and let her try on clothes- I choose a few outfits for her and let her choose 1- She choose a pair of flowered Osh Kosh overalls that she called her 'carhartt's'...They really are very unattractive and outdated looking but for the sake of letting (and encouraging) Ellie's independence we bought them.  I have a feeling she will want to wear them everyday all day.....this thought overwhelms me....
After she and I shopped for several hours we were checking out at our last store- Elle's had been demonstrating her two year old strong will for about the last hour....by the register they were selling a mish mosh of food- sweet yummy food- my stress level was high and the raspberry cookies were all but shouting my name......by the time we drove out of that store parking lot 3/4 of the bag was gone and I was on a sugar high- I ate my stress away and it was delicious...
3 minutes....
totally changing subjects
I visited with a dear friend on Thurs.  We were only going to visit for an hour- when I left we had shared 4.........She knows who she is and to her I send a heart felt thank you.  It is amazing the encouragement we can both receive from and give too others- It is also amazing how God strategically places others in our life that understand, encourage, and love.....I am so so thankful

My last sentence carry's 3000 miles across the Pacific to the oncology ward in one of Oahu's finest hospitals..............Malina WE ARE PRAYING- May you feel God's presence wrapped around you and your family and may your healing come quickly- Praise God for the news you received today.  For my prayer partner buddies please join in praying for Malina as she overcomes Leukemia.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Saturday Evening!

Above is a picture taken off of Malina's facebook wall with the following caption:

Kimo and Malina Going for a Stroll Together-
Malina got a little break from her IV tree to go on a date with Kimo for a walk down the hall. Malina, we are so proud of your faith, strength and will to fight this. We are all cheering you on. Prayers are being said for you daily and WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!

Sitting Just As They Are Below

As My boys walked in from Youth Group tonight they came over to where I was sitting, at the kitchen table, and set their Bible's down.  I was so busy talking to them I did not glace down at what they had set down until they walked away-

When I saw both of their Bible's, sitting just as they are below, my heart instantly started praying

'Heavenly Father please let my boys grow up to be men of character that love and honor you...Lord please let them really know you- not just know you from what they hear about you but know you from their own experiences....'

 

and the prayer went on...

 

Eli Ben and Ryan Chase

May you always choose Jesus

I love you,

Mommy

 

 

5 Months to 3

Ellie is 5 months away from being 3-
On one hand, how did we get here so fast...
On the other it seems like forever.

Wikipeida say's that at 2.5 a child begins to 'to see self as separate individual'
'Hey Elle's are you mommy's baby?'....................'NO! I am Ellie' (comes out Yelly)

Wikipedia also says that 'One and two year olds can commonly be seen playing in a stable squatting position, with feet wide apart and bottom not quite touching the floor'
Our family has seen this 'squatting' over the past 3 weeks as our Ellie is potty training- We have had to re direct her 'squatting' from whatever room she is in to her princess potty (or the big girl potty that flushes) and remind her that our house and even the great outdoors for that reason is not a giant toilet- It is amazing that she recognizes that she has to 'potty' but 'potty-ing' anywhere on anything will not work.

Dennis the Menace is her current favorite movie (Nemo is a close second)- This afternoon when I put her down for a quiet time I allowed her to watch it- As I was starting it up she says from her bed 'Dennis the menace is funny'-
This would explain what I told Matt a couple of days ago...........I happened to walk by her door during the part where Dennis was doing something obnoxious to Mr. Wilson (George as Ellie calls him) and I heard Ellie chuckling- I stopped to peak in and see if she was laughing at the movie or something else- she was laughing at Dennis in the movie.  Later that night I told Matt that I thought Ellie was beginning to understand humor- to recognize it and respond to it...............I then asked Matt if we should be concerned that she found Dennis the Menace so funny :)

Here you are, five months to three Ellie Marie........ You are an overwhelming delight- at times an overwhelming bundle of energy- always such a blessing and forever our joy!

5 Randoms & A Banana Toilet

5 Randoms............

1. A few weeks ago it dawned on me that my boys should be doing their own laundry- Eli is in the laundry room as I type this switching his clothes from the washer to the dryer..........to the mom's that figured out your children should know how to do their own laundry before they were well into their teens....well done!! Why did I not teach my boys this years ago??
2. Ellie has been potty training herself for a little over 2 weeks- Her determination amazes me...she takes off her diaper (w/o me reminding her) every morning, puts on her 'big girl panties' (thank you Kelly), and carries on her day using her princess potty (that we have in the living room)....I stay out of her potty training for the most part- It seems like she's got it figured out!!
3. Speaking of Elle's....She is the only child I know who can make the request 'please' sound like a bad word.  We started enforcing that she said please when she wanted something- For awhile she would refuse so she would not get what she was asking for- When she figured out that did not pay off for her she took up shouting 'PLEASE' (it sounds more like PEA'S) in a tone that has a demanding edge- I guess unlike potty training she is not going to teach herself manners SO we will have to start working on the tone of her please :)
4. Our Wi-Fi is broken so I am sitting on a dining room chair huddled in a corner in my living room with the Ethernet Cable plugged into my lap top...........talk about a great way to spend less time on the internet- It's not as fun cruising on the internet when you can't comfy down on the couch- Gotta get that Wi-Fi fixed
5. Ladies Bible Study is getting ready to start up at church- We will be going through a study on the life of Jesus that's focus is the book of Luke..........I started it almost a month ago to get a head start- It never ceases to amaze me the depth Jesus went to show his love for us.........Thank you Lord Jesus and I love you

Hope you are having a great Thurs

p.s. Hat's off to the person who saw the makings for a toilet out of a banana- And the little pretzel handle just adds a cute finishing touch-  I wonder if it would be weird eating a 'toilet'.............I think I would have added raisins to my bowl just for the gross out factor :) :) :)

A Revived Soul

This morning I was reading though Psalm 19. As I got to verses 7-9 I stopped and re read them:

'The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul,

The Statues of the Lord are trustworthy making wise the simple

The Precepts of the Lord are right giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes

The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever,

The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.'

I underlined 'reviving the soul'

A revived soul........aaahh that is music to this toddler and teen raising mama's ears whose everyday is filled with so much busy- To this wife that wants a healthy marriage- to this friend that cares so deeply when my friends are struggling- to this daughter of the King that first of all wants to Glorify God in all I do...........

Where do I begin when some days my soul feels too tired, too stressed, too overwhelmed.....

'The Law of the Lord is perfect...'

Open my Bible...Prayerfully ask God for the wisdom to learn from His Word....and then walk in surrender- The soul surrender that say's 'not my will but thy will'.......

'The Law of the Lord is perfect- REVIVING THE SOUL'

'Father please give me the courage, insight, and wisdom to 'live in' your rest- to fully embrace it- to understand it.........to show my family Your rest through me (not a stressed out mama who is tired and overwhelmed)'

 

Amen



Dear Nana....FINALLY

On Dec. 26, 1988, 3 months after my thirteenth birthday AND with the date in Dec. specially chosen because our destination was supposed to be experiencing frigid freezing temps, my cousin Sally, nana, and I boarded our plane.....

Our first touch down was Denver- I am not sure what kept us on the ground longer than expected but a plane delay in the 80's meant some Freebies for the passengers.  Dinner vouchers (free from the airline) because we were going to be in Denver over dinner were handed out and my nana told my cousin Sally and I to find us some dinner........When your 13, twenty 'airport bucks' seems like a bottomless pit of spending- It was fun walking around the airport carefully selecting what we wanted to eat :) 

I still remember looking out and seeing all the lights when we landed in St. Paul, Minnesota, our final destination, and also my Nana's home state when she was growing up.........This is where I had been pointed to if I wanted to know what it felt like to be in below zero temp's, ice skate, and have your wet hair frozen to your head (yep, I tried it while my cousin Sally looked on)....I really think the Mall of America was calling my name even back then but, because my shopping maturity was limited to Goodwill (still love that store) and our local J.C. Penny, I did not recognize the 'call' right then.........I mean, for the love of Pete, it was in complete ignorance that I choose to visit the city that houses the LARGEST MALL in America.........I was born to shop!! (side note for Deb & Kristi- I still have not forgot about Seven's fabulous Kimmie's...darn that they are so new and so expensive)

I sat with my precious Nana today and we talked about our Minnesota trip- We talked about the fact that we stayed with Nana's best friend (since 5th grade) Margeurite and how Nana and Margeurite still keep in touch..........how it's possible to be friends with someone for 80 years.  As we were talking about our trip my cousin Sally walked in the door- Sal and nana are neighbors...Sal comes over everyday and helps my nana remember to take her medications and manage daily life. 
Here Nana, Sally, and I were 25 years later, all in the same room, talking about a trip we had all 3 taken together............a trip that was a gift from our Nana. 

As I was getting ready to leave Nana's house today I asked if I could look through her photo albums to grab a few pictures of our trip... I could not find the pictures but did come across a picture of Nana and Margeurite.

There are so many gifts we give others in life- One's we recognize during the giving, one's we recognize later, and some we may never recognize.......some will be monetary, some will be words(the gift of encouragement is one example), and some will be a gesture (a hug or smile).  Some gifts will be talked about for a moment and some will touch generation after generation.

I am blessed to be the grand daughter of Harriet Hagen Chamberlain
I am blessed to be able to pass the Legacy she has left and is still leaving on to my children and someday my grandchildren

'Thank you Lord Jesus for my Nana.....Please guard and keep her as she begins her 90th year....Please fill her heart with the knowledge that she has left and is still leaving so many precious gifts to those around her.'

 

 

Here we are a week later...(ALMOST) Dear Nana part 2

When I wrote the first 'Dear Nana' post on New Year's Day I had high hopes of writing part 2 of the post within a couple of days of the first....
Here we are a week later :)
I also had high hopes of stopping by my Nana's house and grabbing some pictures out of her photo album of our trip (to share with you all)....
Again, here we are a week later and I still have not made it to pick up those pictures...

Over the past week I have been chasing a potty training toddler (who has pooped and pee'd multiple places both inside and outside........I can't believe how fast she can whip down her pants and go...WAIT A MINUTE HERE!!!).  This week I have also sanitized my house after the head cold flu went through- although I may have pre-sanitized because I had to pick Ryan up early from school today because of a fever and ear ache (thankfully it has missed Matt and I so far...whoo hoo- Maybe my next blog post will be about Matt and I getting the flu too...smile).  For some reason, I have also been extra hungry all week so I have been doing a lot of cooking- I was mulling over today 'Why in the world am I always so hungry?' (especially since the pregnancy test came up negative......JUST JOKING...no more babies for us).  I came to the conclusion that, after over eating during the entire Holiday season, my body is not recognizing that the holiday's are over and it's time to scale those 5 meals I've been eating a day back down to 3- maybe I'll work on that next week :) :) :)

Last week's blog post ended with this:

On Dec. 26, 1988, 3 months after my thirteenth birthday AND with the date in Dec. specially chosen because our destination was supposed to be experiencing frigid freezing temps, my cousin Sally, nana, and I boarded our plane.....
 

My goal is to make it over to my Nana's in the next week or two so that I can grab pictures of our trip- This post was ALMOST going to be 'Dear Nana' part 2 but it just did not seem right to write without the pictures.

P.S. Below is a fun picture from a year ago.  Towards the end of last year, we bought the below house to either rent or sell- After doing a 'lip stick' makeover on it (paint, carpet, laminate hardwood, garage doors, etc) We listed it last Dec., by owner, for a couple of weeks before deciding that we wanted to rent it.  After taking the 'marketing' pictures my laptop broke and I thought the pictures were gone.  A couple of days ago I got an e-mail from a popular real estate website offering a 'complimentary' market analysis on the house- Attached to the e-mail was this pic (that I took and they saved)

Hope you are having a great Tues.!!



Dear Nana...

Part 1 of 2

Dear Nana,
These 2 posts are dedicated to you.  Thank you so much for the role you have played in my life- for all the prayers you have prayed, for sitting at my basketball and volleyball games when I was in high school, for never failing to tell me how beautiful you think my Ellie is and how you know God choose her for our family.  Thank you also for giving this granddaughter of yours a special memory for her 13th birthday- a memory that, as an adult, turned into a tradition that I have carried on for my kids. I admire your independent spirit, the twinkle in your eye, and that you have loved the Lord through incredible heartache.
I Love you,
Steph


As my cousin Sally's phone was ringing yesterday, my cell pressed up against my ear, I had already been thinking about what I was about to ask her for hours.  I had woken up with 2 things on my mind this New Year's Eve day- The first thing on my mind was our friends Dale and Bonnie (KK and Code Man)....they would be waking up to the 10th anniversary of their sister Janet's passing....She was killed in a car wreck on New Year's Eve of 2004 (we love you D,B,K,C).  The second thought was where I was 25 years ago....

'Hey Sal, guess where you, nana, and I were 25 years ago on New Year's Eve?'

I have mentioned my Nana on my blog a few times- She is our grandma on my dad's side.  My nana became a widow when she was in her early 50's- I wish I could say that I remember meeting my grandpa Ray but he died from stomach cancer a few months after I was born.

My Grandpa Ray and Nana had 3 children who went on to have 11 children of their own:

•  My dad Rick- He has Anne Loree, Jodi, me, Chris, & Levi
•  Aunt Petra- Who has Monica, Jay (who passed away), and Sally
•  Aunt Anne- Who has Luke, Molly Muffin, and Anna

A trait I admire about my nana is her independence.  To this day, 9 months shy of 90 years old, she lives on her own, in the house that she raised her kids in- A house that has deep family roots, where many a Chamberlain Family get together has taken place over the 50+ years she has lived there.  Living on her own looks a bit different even than it did 5 years ago (she has some help when it comes to remembering to take her medications etc.)but none the less my almost 90 year old nana still lives on her own.

Nana embraced her 50's, 60's, 70's, and early 80's by traveling, gardening, and playing racquetball.  It did not surprise me several years ago to pick up our local paper and see my nana and her racquetball partner making our headlines for faithfully playing racquetball a couple times a week at our local gym (I think the reporter was shocked not only how long they had been playing racquetball together but their age).

Most of us grandkids were able to be a part of my nana's passion to travel.  For our 13th birthday she would give us the gift of a trip in a way that did not spoil us but gave us an opportunity to see outside our home state of  Oregon if we choose...

'You can choose anywhere in the United States to go BUT you must save up the money to pay for your own food'



As my sister Jodi and cousin Sally turned 13 in 1987 they jetted off for a weeks long trip to Hawaii with my nana....It never even crossed my mind as someplace to choose......
My brother headed down to Disney Land, my Cousin Luke and Molly to the Billy Graham Camp in Tennessee (where, at 13 Luke met his future wife Becca), Anna to Monterey...

For years before my thirteenth, I had been developing a fascination with cold weather- What did it feel like to be in below zero temp's?  What was it like to ice skate?  What was it like to have your hair frozen to your head?

On Dec. 26, 1988, 3 months after my thirteenth birthday AND with the date in Dec. specially chosen because our destination was supposed to be experiencing frigid freezing temps, my cousin Sally, nana, and I boarded our plane.....


p.s. Happy New Year!!

Nana, earlier this year, with most of her great grandchildren