Tuesday, September 20, 2011

All is Well

This morning I awoke to a choral and orchestral arrangement playing on my alarm clock. It was from a 1980's era Christmas album by Michael W. Smith (and by the way, that CD has been in my clock since last Christmas - I just don't use the CD player ever).

All is well, all is well
Lift up your voice and sing!
Born is now Emmanuel
Born is our Lord and Savior
Sing Alleluia
Sing Alleluia
All is well!

What a basis for my joy! A solid bedrock for settled, determined joy! All is well for Christ has come. My sins are washed clean. My eternity is settled forever with Him. He tore the veil. He made a way for me to come with boldness before Him. He made the perfect, full sacrifice once for all people for all time.

My joy - when I'm focused on truth and when I'm thinking rather than just reacting - does not depend on the day's circumstances. It's not about what I accomplish or how my boys behave or how potty training goes today. All is well, for Christ has come. And He is coming again in righteousness to set all things right.

Sing Alleluia! All is well!


Monday, September 19, 2011

Our New Big Adventure

Yesterday my Wyatt was tiny.


There was a whole lot of crazy hair under that hat, and his worst cry was a wimper (compared to his little brother).

Today he's "big."


And tomorrow (unless it was a day like today) we start a big adventure. Potty training. Because I think he's ready. I'm thankful I'm loved by a gracious God who gives strength because I know myself. And I'm thankful for sweet mamas who have done this before and share their wealth of wisdom and prayers with me.

Let the adventure begin!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Good will for Goodwill



Wednesday my mom gifted me with a clean family room. Well, she gifted me with a whole day of childcare while I cleaned the family room. It. was. wonderful. Over the weekend Randy had finished sheetrocking the fireplace, we painted the ceiling and trim, and top to bottom deep cleaning could commence. By the end of the day the curtains were washed, the walls were wiped, etc. etc. AND the furniture was moved back in. Yay.

In the middle of the day I needed a little break, so I ran to Goodwill in search of a pair of lamps. I found several pairs, all in lovely shades of cream and gold or brass. I just wasn't sure if any of them were right, so I ran to Lowe's in search of lampshades. I found them. Two of the prettiest lampshades that said, "Take us home!" They came with me. And so did a can of Valspar's Mediterranean Blue spray paint. Back at Goodwill, I took a lampshade in to test it on the lamps I found. I loved them on one pair - the cheapest pair. I picked them up for $3.50 a piece.

Check out these beauties!


Here they are in their blue glory flanking my green couch.


This is my pillow fabric, partially cut and waiting for me.


An close up shot of my new favorites.

The lampshades weren't cheap - $20 each. And one of the lamps needed a new cord at $8. All told I spent about $58 on the lamps, so it wasn't the cheapest thrifting project ever, but considering a new lamp would have cost $60 I guess I got a two for one deal. But I love it!

Friday, August 26, 2011

It's 97 degrees...

...and I found both of my boys curled up in blankets this morning.

The big one refuses to smile for pictures these days.
He made a nest on my bedroom floor.

The little one smiles at everything. I love that.

Ready for autumn, no?

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Moving Furniture and the Grace of Laughter

So last week the gas line was connected to our fireplace after 2 1/2 months of a big hole in our wall. Our gas fireplace was installed the same week in June that it became insanely hot for two months, and broken air conditioners are more important than my fireplace when it's 108! This has been 2 1/2 months of patience building for me with random things out of place and mantle and surround supplies sitting around.

This week Randy has begun the sheet rocking and mudding process, which I don't mind until he starts sanding. Yesterday we moved almost all of the family room furniture into the smaller living room that is already filled with furniture. No pictures, please! And today is build-a-ginormous-fort-day!

Yesterday had one of those mornings where I struggled and prayed and prayed and struggled some more with my attitude. I couldn't get anything done with two mobile small children who don't know how to play together. My house was (is) a MESS. And I let it all push my buttons!

Then Randy needed breakfast food made. Buttermilk scones with vanilla frosting. The same ones I had been assigned to make for the Women's Conference at church last week. Randy said they tasted like his mom's sugar cookies - perfect for breakfast! So around 11:30, I fed the boys an early lunch because they were hungry (and fighting). Afterward I thought, "I have time to get these done really fast before nap time. This is a bad idea." But I did it anyhow.

Randy had suggested making a double batch so we could throw some in the freezer. So I wondered, "Can I make a double batch at the same time in my mixer? Probably a bad idea, but I'm going to try."

6 cups of flour, 5 (yes FIVE) tablespoons of baking powder, and some other dry ingredients really fill up a mixer. Then I added three sticks of butter...and forgot to cut it into small pieces. Flour exploded everywhere! I knew this was a bad idea.

I cut up the butter and tried it again. Better this time. Then I started adding two cups of buttermilk. My mixer seriously started grinding. I had to be careful or I was going to burn it up (making TWO cranky Regehrs in our house - Randy would not be happy with that!) Then I realized I forgot the sugar! I kneaded the sugar in by hand and put the scones on a pan. By this time Wyatt had pulled a chair up on the other side of the counter and was watching. On that counter I had a canister of sugar, a pan of scones and a ball of dough. No touch, Wyatt!

Ryder was playing on the kitchen floor and getting cranky and tired, so I took him to bed. When I came back Wyatt had dumped a 1/3 cup of sugar on the scones and was gleefully licking sugar out of the cup. A classic Wyatt move. Thankfully, all of this was making me laugh. And it kept getting better.

I popped most of the scones in the oven then read Wyatt a story and put him to bed. Over the next 20 minutes I continued to put him back to bed and mixed up the frosting. By this time my kitchen was an absolute disaster. I frosted the first batch, and then picked them up to move them to the laundry room counter to cool, so I'd have room to frost the second batch. Of course, I couldn't carry the cooling racks one at a time. I had to carry two at once. After about three steps the scones on the right rack started sliding. Splat! Splat! SPLAT! At least four scones hit the floor, fresh frosting side down, narrowly missing all of Ryder's toys still strewn all over the floor. I laughed till I had tears rolling down my cheeks. Amazingly enough, only one broke (my lunch), and Randy managed to have 23 scones ready for his breakfast.

What a grace that laughter was! A gift from the Lord because that wasn't my heart yesterday. That comedy of errors in my kitchen absolutely made my day!


Monday, August 15, 2011

Good Idea?

I'm not sure, but the pics sure did turn out cute! Ryder thought it was funny that his brother was feeding him. And Wyatt thought he was big because he was feeding his brother.



So funny!

I stayed home from work today. No one at my office wanted me to bring whatever germs I had to them. So I sat in bed with the laptop working from home and listened to Randy and the boys play. Oh I laughed! Wyatt is saying a lot of, "Hmmmm...well? I wonder if..." and then he just stops. And it's a good thing he's too little to be sarcastic because he said, "How about no," to me today. I of course responded with a firm, "How about yes!" Oh two year old vocabs.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Ahhhhugust...

August in Kansas is supposed to be the hot month. But after two months of crazy heat, we're finally hanging out on our patio. It's getting late enough that we have to very carefully dodge flying acorns from the massive oak, but it's still beautiful!

I know it's been forever, so here's an update.

Wyatt: very much 2. very much boy. funny. silly. the other morning it was storming and he said, "Mommy, I want to turn on the light outside." Silly boy. and he loves to sing..."Zaccheaus was a mail man and a mail man was he!"

Ryder: 8 months. just got TWO teeth in TWO weeks. Fun fun. trying so hard to crawl and keep up with his big brother who doesn't always like that.



Be glad you didn't hear this rendition of Wyatt's outside voice!

Isn't he sweet!


My silly boys

What have we been up to this summer? Making stuff for an artwalk this week. Spending time with family and friends. And running after little boys.

40 birdhouses, folks. 40!

Okay, dinnertime and time to flee the squirrel's ammo.