“WHO needs SLEEP? NOT ME!” I am someone who believes in the power of prayer. So why don’t I pray more? I ask myself this a whole lot. I’ll be wracked with worries, overwhelmed with everyday life, consumed with anxiety about the smallest and the biggest things, and yet I will forget to pray. I understand a few reasons why I’m not all that prayerful. First of all, I never really have been. I don’t have the “practice.” Secondly, my mind wanders no matter what the heck I’m doing, so talking to Someone who doesn’t audibly respond and keep eye contact with me is quite difficult. Also, I struggle with unbelief enough to tread lightly with my requests. What I mean by that is that I see God working around me all the time, but for some reason I think His power doesn’t apply to my “stuff.” Whenever I ask Him for help, […]
Some things I love about eating out are:eating food I didn’t have to make that’s super yummy.being with people I love to be with while I eat the super yummy food.relaxing.chatting it up.looking around at all the other people and wondering about them.the ambiance.the sounds.the smells.the drinks.The list goes on, but I’ll stop there. I just love it. I LOVE to eat out. I don’t do it as much as I used to, but this is what I would rather do than anything else on an evening out with friends or family. I’ve gotten to go out TWO times this week. I met up with Kelly, Sabrina and Sara on Thursday. It was so good to see them and talk Christmas, eat good food and laugh. Thanks for the invite ladies! I like Bon Xai (did I spell that right?), it’s another good place for me to frequent. And you can’t get better […]
This afternoon, Ryan stayed home with the boys and I got to go spend a very generous gift card from my parents. Oh, did I have fun! One of my favorite stores is the one I like to call, Herb’s. Or Herbergers. What a weird name? Anyway… some things I love most about that place are the deals and the coupons that are always in the paper for another 20% off. It isn’t the most high end of stores, but there are some great brands. I love “after Christmas sales,” and haven’t shopped them in a few years, so I was just taking it all in. I came home on a spending (my parent’s money) high. I rarely get new clothes, but today I was able to get a big bag of quality goods, and it was fantastic.Meanwhile, Miles was giving Ryan a run for his money. And so was Asher. So I […]
Little Snowman Hello! We’ve had a whirlwind of a few days and we’re just now settling down. Kind of. Christmas was good, in the sense of seeing family and sharing good times and good food with them. What we’re learning, is that we just can’t fit that much in anymore, due to having our busy little family. I don’t know how we can change it. We want to see everyone as much as they want to see us, so it’s hard to know what to do. I sure would like it if there were more time to relax and take in the moments though. Ryan read in the paper yesterday “twelve things to do after Christmas.” One of them was to write down what you’d do different next year. We know something has to give, but we haven’t figured out what it is. By next year, we may forget how stressful it was […]
Our friend’s Mackenzie and Caleb had their baby today!! I’m so excited to go see them in the morning, I can’t stand it. Happy Birthday, little Ellorie! Baby girl Bjorklund was born at 4:30pm this afternoon and weighed 7lbs, 7oz. Kenz and Caleb have two little girls! I’m sure Olivia is super happy to have a girl! That’s just what she wanted. I believe it is no coincidence that they have two girls and we have two boys…. Miles doesn’t fully understand Christmas yet. I’m sure it’s a strange concept in many respects. But he’s still excited at the prospect of having Jesus cake and seeing his cousins. Ryan and I are more than excited to watch him this Christmas. He’ll have such a good time. He’s such a bright little boy, if I do say so myself. I think Asher may be on that path too. Both of our boys have always […]
Last night I went to run errands and by the time I got home, Miles was in bed. He wasn’t sleeping yet though. He talks for a very long time in his bed after he “goes to bed.” He was being kinda crazy in his room, so I came in to remind him that it was time for sleep and to say good night. I was all business until he put his hand on my face and said, “thanks for coming home, mommy.” Then he reached up and hugged my neck. That’s all I need for Christmas. Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
I wrapped a few gifts today. And I got my haircut. And I stopped and picked up a gift for our neighbor, Tom Mr. Nice Guy. That’s what I got done today. So now all I need to do is:make cookies (after I go get the ingredients so I have something to make), wrap the rest of the gifts (after I finish shopping so I have something to wrap), pack for our trip to Spicer (after I do laundry so I have something to pack), attend an extended family gathering…. STOP! STOP listing it, I say! STOP!Okay I’m losing it. I just love to be organized and prompt and I just can’t be anymore so I need to just stop making lists. Lists are overwhelming. But if I don’t make the lists than I might forget something really important, (like my mother-in-laws gift) and that would be bad. So not writing lists can […]
When it’s gloomy outside like this, the barometric pressure does something to me. So if it does something to me I’d have to guess it’s doing even more to the small people in my home. We’ve been tired and cranky today. Maybe it’s all that hustle and bustle too. We’re worn out. Thankfully, we go to church on Wednesday mornings. Miles gets to play with his friends and I get to eat and drink coffee and visit with other moms while Asher smiles at everyone. Katie comes with us and it’s one of my favorite things all week. Afterward, Katie comes over for lunch and helps me with the boys. The two of us can really talk. I love it. Not only is Wednesday my favorite day of the week, but talking with Katie is one of my favorite things in life.Last night we had G’ma Mary and G’pa Ken over. When we […]
We’ve been busy little elves over here at the King residence. Nearly no time to blog! We had a hectic Sunday of church and family gathering. We went to Grandma Mary and Grandpa Ken’s (Ryan’s parents) to take some family photos for their Christmas card. I have included some of the hilarious attempts at capturing the perfect moment below: All I can say about trying to get lots of people to look sane and pretty all at the same time is completely impossible and everyone should stop trying and just send out xmas cards with pics such as these on them. This is who we really are anyway. And we’re cool and funny (: Then yesterday we had friend, Braden over because his mommy and daddy needed a hand with him. He is a sweet little boy who adjusted quite well to this new place with new people in it. Isn’t he cute? […]
Ambitious readers. Ambitious people impress me. You know the ones. They work really hard, night and day, being productive and attaining their goals. They rarely sleep, they exercise daily, they eat right and still find time to have a successful career that took ambition to attain. I have to admit that I am not one of the ambitious ones. Never have been. I can name some things I am ambitious about though (just for fun). Food. Relaxing. Socializing. Cleaning. Sleeping. My family. My friends.As for things I have excelled at? Well, let’s see. In school I did just what I had to do to do “well.” I didn’t have a desire for college and I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. When I did get “real” jobs I pretty much just coasted through the days. I did a good job, but never an over-the-top-excellent type of job.Here’s […]
( Ryan doing the breakfast hustle bustle – check out that hat!!! Yup, it’s a robe too!) I really don’t like Holiday hustle and bustle. And I can’t handle too much of it at home either. But I do love it when the hustle and bustle, stressful or not, includes loved ones feeling comfortable enough to join us in our home. Boy did we hustle and bustle last night. I thought about it afterward and smiled because I love it that our friends and family feel at ease enough in relationship with us to show up, anytime and do anything. Starting at about five, things got pretty crazy around here. Asher only had catnaps all day so he was losing it. Miles gets pretty wild starting at about five too, so even if it’s just the four of us, our house is “bustling.”At about 5:30 Mackenzie called to see if she and Caleb […]
Miles’ school had their Christmas program today. It was a hoot! Miles mostly just stood there looking at all the other kids singing and doing actions. He’s a silent observer type, you know. The picture on the right is Miles’ best friend from school. He’s from Norway and his name is Johanis (YO HAHN ISS or HAHNUS, if you’re Miles). The kids danced and sang and we had cookies. What could be better during the Christmas season in Milesy’s world? He loves his friends. There were kids from many countries and they brought “gifts” to the manger scene while holding their flag. It was so touching. I love that Miles goes to a school with such a “variety” of kids. To him being different from himself isn’t even noticeable because he’s always been around such an eclectic group. He goes to school at Luther Seminary. There are a lot of kids of Seminary […]
My friend Kim is having a baby and we had a shower for her yesterday. I’m so excited to meet the little one. I love it that she and husband, Roy haven’t found out the sex of the baby. But I hate it at the same time. The anticipation is killing me. I’m guessing boy. I think I always guess boy though since I have two of them. And it seems like lots of people are having boys these days. Kim is going to be a super mom. One thing we all really enjoyed about this shower is that there was none of that “guess which candy bar is melted in the diaper” game business. We just ate and talked and opened gifts. Refreshing. It’s so much fun to be a part of people’s lives as they’re having babies. I love to be able to relate and pass on a little advice here […]
Miles – 2.5 years Asher – 4.5 months Psalm 127:3 says “Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him.” I have often thought about how God has given me such a great gift in my children. It makes me think about how much He must love us, to give us these little miracle people. I tell Ryan I can’t wrap my mind around this: me + him = new person with part me and part him. Twice. Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
Last night, my friend Carrie let me know, as we had dinner, that she was a little afraid to spend time with me cause she’d probably end up blogged about. Well, certainly!The title may be misleading, because Carrie is really quite genuine. But her maiden name was Crockford, so she became “Crock.” I always have such a good time with this lady. She’s witty and bright and tells a great story. She’s got lots of stories since she spends most of her time with her three-year-old twin girls. And those girls are the cutest, smartest, funniest little people you could ever meet.It is so good to get out of the house and speak grown-up. And laugh and eat good food. I told Ryan this morning that I can’t believe what great friends I have. I don’t say that just because Carrie paid for the meal (thanks again), but because of who she is. […]
Miles vocab. update: Tato – Playdoh Axis*cent – Accident Ribber – River These are about the only words that he doesn’t pronounce correctly. Except for licorice. He has some trouble with licorice. Other than that, the kids got a better vocab. than a lot of adults we know. Okay, maybe I’m biased, but he really does know a lot of words. Tonight we were reading a book and he said, “you’re getting tired mommy.” Well, he got that right! I was reading pretty slow too. Smart little guy. Asher is flippin’hilarious these days. He gets a HUGE kick out of Tia. When she plays fetch with Ryan, Asher just cracks up, hysterically laughing. We’re not even sure what the joke is, but it is so great to hear that boy laugh. He’s also practicing being a talker like Miles. He doesn’t speak english, but he sure does go on and on. Ryan’s home […]
Today Ryan and I worked on some Christmas gifts via the internet. I have to say I LOVE being able to do that. I like to get gifts for other people, but I really don’t like the hustle and bustle of crowded stores. It makes me somewhat claustrophobic and panicky. Especially if people are crabby, which 9 times out of 10 they are because they’re all stressed about holiday business. Pretty silly. You can come around a corner and almost run into someone and say politely to them, “oh, excuse me, I’m sorry,” and they’ll scowl at you and storm off. It’s so weird. Ba Humbug.Anyway. I was thinking while creating something on-line that there are people somewhere with jobs related to what I’m doing. They come up with the product and how to say things on their web-site and how to order, etc. That got me thinking of jobs in general. Every […]
I kind of enjoy being home-bound the first morning after a big snow. The end of the driveway is always way too full to drive through and it takes awhile to shovel it away. Ryan and Miles are out there working on it right now. Well, Ryan is working on it and Miles is eating snow. Don’t worry, we’ve explained to him that he should avoid yellow snow. It’s funny how things get translated in his busy little brain. Now he says “we can’t eat the yellow snow cause Tia goes pssss on it.” I don’t know how he came up with sound effects, I promise it wasn’t Ryan or I. Except maybe when he was sitting on the potty chair and I tried to help him understand what sound it might make when he actually goes potty. oops. I can just imagine what it will be like at school when he walks […]
* * Actual christmas tree not shown We only had to go about five blocks to get our tree this year. That was good due to the weather and the small people we brought along. Miles wasn’t too sure what the heck we were doing, but we loved watching the “wonder” in his eyes: He kept saying that he was cold and I would ask if he wanted to get in the car and he’d say no as if it was a silly question. How could I miss this, mom? Asher didn’t really get to partake in the festivities due to his newness, but he did come along:We had such a good time doing this today. I don’t know what it was. Maybe the beautiful snow that was making it feel all Christmasy. Or maybe because Miles was so excited to have a Christmas tree since it would have lights on it. We […]
