I know I shared this photo in my last, but really, it held a lot of significance for me.

As I mentioned, we were racing in honor of my Grandma, who has beat breast cancer twice in the last 10 years. We feel it very important to teach our kids to give back, and this race is important for the family reason.

Meet my Grandma (and my Grandpa):


Growing up, they lived 6 miles from me. They never missed a game or a concert. Grandpa was a farmer. Grandma worked in the Title office. She was a revolutionary of sorts -- a working woman in a generation where that was a bit unusual. She retired, I believe, at age 72 (I might be off a bit on that). I know that her influence, as well as that of my Mom, is what led me to be a working woman. (And I'm in no way putting out there an argument to be a stay at home mom or a working mom -- I support both choices and feel it important to make the decision as a family for your family.)

I come from a family of strong women... on both sides. And I'm proud of the confidence, independence, and determination that they've given to me.

On this Momentous Monday, I look back and cherish every moment I've spent with my Grandmother. And I'm thankful that I have a lot of them to reflect back upon.

I also share with you this photo, taken 4 years ago, of a moment shared between my daughter and my grandmother. There is such a depth of experience, meaning, and love that can be seen in that one simple photo. The experiences, hard work, hand-holding, hugs, letters written, flowers planted -- that are seen in my Grandmother's hand. The hope, promise, new life, future -- that are seen in my daughter's chubby little one-year-old hand.



This is one of my favorite photos. I shared it with my Grandma, and her first words were, "Oh look at my ugly old hand." She sees the wrinkles of age. She sees the painful bends of arthritis.

I see a beautiful life of a beautiful woman.

Grandma has had a rough couple of years with strokes, broken hip, broken shoulder, lots of physical therapy. She's pushing through therapy right now trying to regain strength from her last accident. I'm heading home to celebrate my Mom's birthday in May, and look forward to seeing my Grandma again, too. This photo and the series of recent events really have me clinging to the words, "I don't know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future."

I thank God for the wonderful females He's placed in my life. And I thank Him for the precious moments I've been blessed to spend with all of them.

What about you? What moments do you cherish on this Momentous Monday. Hop on over to Tiffany's blog to share your heart.

Happy Race for the Cure day!

Today our family raced in celebration of my Grandma, who beat breast cancer twice. The pink signs on the back of our shirts say just that.

The rain definitely made the crowd sparse today, and the booths afterwards shut down quickly. Everyone was willing to stay, but the participants took off as soon as the race ended. It was really soggy and cold. My pants were wet up to my knees. There was a brief break in the weather just as the race was to start, but it poured both before and after the race.



The kids and I were ready to go! Amara was planning to run it with me. I knew she wouldn't be able to run the whole thing, but was really excited she wanted to run it with me. We did the 1 mile Family Fun Run.



Amara and I went up ahead while Amara was running. Dominic ran a little bit, but his little legs got tired and opted for the prime seat in the house - atop Dad's shoulders. Look at how wet his hair was! Thankfully we brought along a change of clothes.



Last year's race couldn't have been a more beautiful day, so we were of course disappointed by the weather. However, it is still a wonderful cause! Last night during dinner, I told Amara about the race, why Komen is important, and that the race is a fundraiser, which will help do research to help people be cured of cancer.

This morning as I was getting ready, Amara was in the bathroom with me mulling over the race of the day and the words from last night. She said to me, "Mommy, it's not just the money that makes people better. God is the one who makes people better."

I'm so glad she gets it!

I just have to pause at the end of this crazy week to reflect on the whirlwind that defined it.

Wow.

I survived!

Rewind about 2 weeks. We selected granite for our house, committed to it, had it measured and cut, and we were told that it would be delivered and installed in 4-6 weeks. We told them that we would do the demolition (you can see where this is going), and also that we could be flexible to fill the void of any cancellations (now you can really see where this is going).

I have travelled for work for each of the last 3 weeks. This was my first week that I've been home, and we were looking forward to some relaxing. We also started the kitchen demolition last weekend. We were able to remove the center island countertop as well as all the tile on the back splash. That was Saturday, and we were quite proud of the effort we had made, knowing we'd continue working the following weekend.

Then Monday hit.

Jon got a call on Monday from the granite installers saying they had a cancellation on Friday morning and would be at our house at 7:30.

Gulp!

I'm SO thankful I didn't have to travel this week. There would have just been no way, as it's a two person job.

Here's a list of what needed to happen before it could be installed:
1) Kitchen countertop (not island) removed (including sink / disposal removed)
2) Laundry sink countertop removed (including sink removed)
3) Basement bar and countertop removed (including sink / disposal removed)
4) Install oven / stove
5) Remove old dishwasher and install new
6) Remove backsplash from basement
7) Remove old dry wall and replace with new
8) Pick out faucets for 3 sinks

I think that's it. I could be wrong.

So I took off work on Tuesday and bought the faucets, then set to work prepping as much of the other stuff as I could. After Jon's work audit was finished (i.e. around noon), he joined me at home. We were able to get items 2, 3, and 6 complete in the basement. We were feeling pretty good about things on Tuesday night -- felt very accomplished for our day's efforts.

Then Wednesday night came. We were intending to get the sink removed in the kitchen, as well as the dishwasher. So I crawled under the sink to turn off the water -- but no matter how hard or which direction I turned it, the water wouldn't stop flowing. Great. We tried everything. We couldn't very well shut off the main water supply to the house, because we still had to live there and wouldn't be able to turn it back on. Wednesday night ended with us both very frustrated, as we made absolutely NO progress on our very lengthy task list.

Thursday I frantically called for a plumber to fix what we assumed was a broken valve. At the end of the day, we were very thankful that we discovered a broken valve this way and not as a result of a leak. That would have been horrible! Anyway, plumber came out, fixed the valve easily, looked at all our new fixtures and agreed to come back on Saturday to install everything. Jon and I agreed that while we're capable of doing the plumbing -- water and the potential hazzards of it are something we'll leave to the experts!

So by Thursday at 5pm, we were where we had hoped to be on Wednesday night. And we had basically 14 hours until our granite was arriving.

We worked until 1am. Good grief what a long day!

We started with removing the countertop. This countertop was ridiculous. It's L shaped and probably 8 feet by 4 feet. It's made out of particle board with a 1/2 inch layer of cement over it, followed by a layer of chicken wire (it's probably not chicken wire, but that's what it looks like), and then followed by white ceramic tile and brown grout. That beast was over 300 pounds and as ackward to carry as it possibly could be. Not to mention it was wedged into place, trapped behind the island and the refrigerator. So to maneuver it without damaging the appliances or the cabinet faces was crazy challenging. We think we made it out with only 1 "oops" which will be largely hidden under the new countertops. We're actually lucky to have made it through uninjured!

Then we installed the oven. We had spent probably 8 hours on the oven alone just before Christmas, only to discover it didn't fit properly in the hole. The ease with which we installed it last night was (a) a blessing, but also (b) maddening that we spent so much time on it the first time around! Thankfully the hole which holds the oven was plenty big, it was the old cabinet tops that were slightly too narrow for it. So it slid in easily this time around.

Then we removed all the sheetrock from where we took down the backsplash. I have a LOT of dishes to wash as a result of all that drywall falling into the counterless cabinets. Lovely. But hey, it's down! Then I went out and measured / cut the new sheetrock while Jon installed each piece I cut out. We had quite the assembly going!

The finishing touch, at 12:45am, was to install the new dishwasher. It will be SO nice to not have to wash dishes AFTER the cycle completes.

As we fell into bed, our bed fell to the floor... literally. We've GOT to put those stabilizers on the legs! HAHA!

We aren't compeletely done. We still need to tear out and replace the drywall in the basement. However, compared to what's behind us, that task seems very doable!

Sorry there are no pictures attached. While trying to push through a weekend's worth of work in an evening, I had no desire to stop to photograph the efforts. However... after today, I'll have new granite photos to share! Whoot whoot!

I decided to share a "throw-back" picture for you for today's Momentous Monday.

This picture was taken 2 years ago -- the kids were 1 and 2, and we decided to take in a Cubs game. We'd like, as a family, to take in a game at every Major League park. We decided that we'd wait til they were a bit older, however, as this became a long game.

I share this picture, because it sets up the week that was this past week...

I had to travel for work last week from Wednesday til Friday. I got home Friday evening, then Jon flew out for Chicago on Saturday morning. I had given him tickets for Chicago's home opener on Monday morning -- a dream for a life-long Cubs fan. He spent the weekend with his college roommate, who was our best man at our wedding. It was (hopefully) a fun, relaxing, rejuvenating weekend.

However, he flew back to town on Tuesday. I flew OUT for work on Tuesday through Thursday. We actually met in the airport to say hi, download on the status at home, and say bye (literally 5 minutes). I spent the week away for work and the family picked me up on Thursday night.

I say all this to make the following point (which is actually quite obvious): Our family works better when it's complete.

The kids have had a rough 3 weeks -- because I've had 3 solid weeks of travel. And thankfully, that's unusual. We were nervous going into it, because the kids had been doing SO well. Happy, comfortable, sleeping well, top behavior, helpful...you name it.

However, when we're not a complete family unit, all of those kind of go out the window.

It was evident on Friday afternoon. Amara did something that was not acceptable (I don't even remember what - it was minor). I scolded her - and instantly, she was a quivering puddle of tears. On "normal" days, she feels bad, but doesn't melt like that. When chaos has been the norm, she's ultra-sensitive. The result for me was a learning experience -- I was able to dedicate lots of time and attention to my sweet girl this weekend to get her "back on track."

She had lots of scary stuff during the night -- her code for, "Mommy, I miss you, please come snuggle me."

She was ultra helpful -- her code for, "Mommy, I missed you, please let me spend more time with you."

She was concerned this morning that BOTH Jon and I should pick her up from school for her soccer game tonight -- her code for, "Mommy, our family is best when we're all together -- and I want you BOTH there cheering me on."

Dominic was similarly affected by the separation during the past 3 weeks. He's not as emotionally affected, however, he's more attention focused. He turns into a little cuddle-buddy after I've been gone. He'll sit at the top of the stairs after his nap and wait for me to come carry him down. He begs for his "fishy medicine" -- because he knows I'll often hold him in my lap while he takes it (and of course because his allergies are so bad he can't breathe).

I also had opportunities this weekend to re-establish myself in his little world. I took pleasure in carrying him all over the house, in smelling the sweet smell of him as he squeezes me tight, in sending him back to bed for the 5th time as he masters the art of stalling...

We've been renovating our house. Dominic has become quite adept at removing nails. He heard us banging in the kitchen as we removed the tile backsplash and countertop. He came walking into the kitchen holding his toy hammer ready to help. Jon gave him his real tools and set him to work pulling up tile from the ground. He made some strong headway -- removed the backerboard, some cement, and two nails that were deeply set into the ground using a hammer, a chisel, and a monkey paw. As we continued hammering away at the backsplash, Dominic started wailing.

You can guess what happened.

He missed his target and hit his finger. It wasn't bad at all, but did remove a little bit of skin from the knuckle of his thumb. Both thumbs actually. All he wanted was a little TLC, some cold water, and a bandaid. He milked it for all it was worth, especially relishing in the TLC.

When he was comfortably situated in front of a movie with a bag of fruit snacks and bandaids on both thumbs, Jon said to me, "I guess that's a good reminder that he IS only 3." He's capable of so much more than many 3 year olds, so we let him do those things of which he's capable. And sometimes he gets hurt (of course, we're tempering what he does so his injuries could only be classified as minor). And when he gets hurt, lessons are learned and TLC is profusely doled out.

Jon's right. He's only 3. And she's only 5. And as the picture indicates... only a short time ago they were 1 and 2. And boy does the time slip by quickly.

To both my kiddos: No matter the travel, no matter the chaos -- YOU are our priority. We will be there for your always.

Hop on over to A Moment Cherished to share your momentous moments -- and read about how others are cherishing life in the every day.

Meet Josh.

I first met him through my husband. My husband met him when he came to volunteer at his place of work. We go to church with him.

His is a story of hope, of redemption, of restoration... of what God can do if you allow him to.

Google this: josh sarhan cross -- and keep googling it.

He's walking a cross around the country -- he left on February 17 and intends to walk as long as God tells him to. If you see a man walking on a highway near you carrying a cross -- pull over and hear his story.

And tell him hi from us.

Go meet Josh.

I promise you won't regret it.

I'm joining Tiffany again at Moments Cherished for Momentous Monday. Take a moment and reflect on your past week -- I know there were "normal" moments that will be forever imprinted on your heart.

At Tuesday this past week, Amara had a rash at day care. As her teacher described it to me, I knew (suspected) it was a heat rash. It was the first hot day of spring, and she's susceptible to rash and overheating. It has been a lifelong issue for her. Couple that with "alert level" pollens in the air, and I just had a feeling that's what was going on. However, there was a case of Fifth's Disease at school, so all rashes were being required to be cleared by the doctor. I was in the midst of week 2 of 3 straight travel weeks, and it was my ONE full day in the office. Needless to say, I was very frustrated to be called out of work to take her to the doctor for a heat rash.

But I did.

The doctor actually laughed at me, confirmed it was allergy, and was nice enough to not charge me for what she deemed a silly visit.

And I made the most of that moment -- Amara and I went to Chick-fil-a for a Mommy Daughter lunch. We don't get much one-on-one time together. To have that extra few minutes together with my first born, to share an order of chicken fingers and sing along to Veggie Tales... well... let's just say we'll have to do more of that!



While we're on the subject of Amara...

I love to just sit back and consider the character of my kids; their tendencies that are inborn. Amara has always had a nurturing and tender spirit. It was evident in her from a very early age. One of our old neighbors used to describe her as "an old soul." And it's so true. As we played with the kittens the other day, that sweet spirit was so clear. She spent hours in their little cage, lovingly taking each one up by turn, rocking them, cuddling them, kissing them... and letting them do the same to her. In my experience, kittens have the sharpest little claws... but I don't think they once clawed her. They felt safe in her arms. It's my daily prayer that her sweet spirit is nurtured and protected.



Dominic's charecter has also been very evident as well. He's cautiously fearless, if that makes sense. If he gets the nod that it's OK from one of us, he'll go forward into anything. Such was the case with this snake. Not once did he show an ounce of fear. He walked right up to not only a huge yellow constrictor (that probably out weighed him by double), but also marched right up to the handler and asked to hold it. The handler knew that there was no way Dominic could lift the yellow snake, but found him another that was perfect size for him. Dominic held it, but wanted it around his neck, so quickly figured out how to do that -- then held the snake's head. Doesn't he know that's where the teeth are? If he does, he doesn't care. I pray that his fearlessness continues to be somewhat tempered... for his own safety. But he's also fearless in sharing about Jesus, and I pray that his confidence only grows in that arena.



Dominic's also got a feisty side (imagine that). He's got the attitude of "if you fall off, get right back on." This little kitty didn't particularly like how Dominic was holding her (can't say I blamed her). She got upset, squawked, and scratched his cheek pretty good. Dominic quickly let her go, but just as quickly picked her back up. I helped him to hold the kitties more gently and in a position that provided safety. He then proceeded to tell everyone just how tough he was that he sustained a cat scratch. I love the determination and feisty "can do" spirit about him. I love how his nurturing, soft side comes out, even behind the tough facade he loves to put forth.

It's in these everyday "momentous" moments that we're given priceless peeks into the spirits of our kids. I'm glad for the encouragement to stop and reflect on them!

We had heard that the drive thru safari had baby animals, so we drove over for the afternoon to check them out. The last time we went was 1.5 years ago -- the kids loved it then and remembered parts of it. However, they REALLY loved it this time. Their ages were so much better for it. And the weather couldn't have been nicer.

Here are many of the pictures from the day.

The hits of the day were:

- Chloe the Capuchian monkey. This monkey was crazy! She didn't sit still for more than a couple seconds. She would hop from person to person, picking in their hair, untwisting bottle tops, swiping cameras and sunglasses, digging in pockets. She was very mischevious, and very fun. Their little paws are SO soft. The kids loved how she would jump all over them. They wanted so badly to actually hold her, but she wouldn't sit still for that long.

- Bella the Baby Baboon. Bella was 4 months old, wore a diaper, a little pink onesie, and her nails were painted fuschia. She also wouldn't allow you to hold her, but she would let you pet her. She would sit in her cage sucking her thumb. She had a couple stuffed animals that she would snuggle with. She loved to interact with the crowd, but when she got too stimulated and scared, she'd grab her stuffed animals, jump into her cage, and suck her thumb. She was precious.

- The 4 baby kitties. The kids played in their cage for hours snuggling them, rocking them, getting scratched by them. Dominic got a good clawing to the cheek and he instantly dropped it to the ground. I said, "That's why we like dogs better than cats." He agreed. These kitties were seriously cute, especially the black one with piercing blue eyes. I might be tempted if kittens grew up to be dogs... but since they grow up to be cats, not a chance!

We also drove through the safari and saw many animals I have no clue what they are. I have a list that was provided, but I couldn't tell you what kind of a yak, what kind of a deer, what kind of a buffalo, etc, each of them are. Some are quite endangered, others very common. But most are not native to the area, nor do most of them come up and lick your windows in normal life! One crazy person had their car windows down for a BUFFALO! Who in their right mind feeds a buffalo out of their car window?! Insanity I tell you!

Anyway, a beautiful 77 degree day, my two wonderful kiddos, not a cloud in the sky -- just a little bit of heaven!

I've got a question for you all....

What's your favorite Bible? Why?

I have an FCA Bible I got at a basketball camp in 10th grade. And I like that one OK, but it's not really a study bible.

I have a "Spirit Filled Life" NKJV Bible that I think is my favorite, but I misplaced it when we moved and I haven't been able to find it.

I have a Women's Study Bible (I think NASB), that I really don't care for -- I think because it makes assumptions and over-generalizations with the little devotions within. I bought it as a replacement for the Spirit Filled Life, but have returned to my old FCA Bible instead, leaving this Women's Study Bible virtually untouched.

I'm planning to purchase another Bible -- probably a Study Bible. I'm thinking that I'll probably buy the updated Spirit Filled Life NKJV Bible -- unless someone has a raving recommendation for another one.

This situation just came back to me -- and every time I think about it, I laugh again.

Last week I had to fly for work. I sat down next to a young couple with their adorable 14 month old daughter. I have no problem with traveling next to young children - in fact, this little girl reminded me a bit of both of my kids. She was a good little traveler.

Her dad, however, was not.

Not that he was a bad traveler; he was fine.

But he was sick.as.a.dog!

Seriously, this guy had the worst allergies / cold / sinus issues that I've seen in public. If I weren't so grossed out, I'd have felt bad for the guy. Truth be told, I did feel bad for the guy -- he sounded miserable. I just wished he wasn't sitting right next to me!

I'm totally NOT a germophobe (in fact, I usually get quite a kick out of grossing out my germophobe friends)... but this guy seriously had me wishing I habitually carried hand sanitizer (which I don't). Every time he sneezed, he ever so politely turned, put sneezed into his elbow -- but I'm sure covered his wife and daughter in the process. And I'm sure of this, because on a couple of extra-powerful blasts, I was nearly certain I felt a bit of collateral moisture hit my arm.

But that may have been simply in my mind...

OK... so all that gross stuff to get to the funny part. Sorry if I have you crawling in your skin!

Aside from the sneezing, he was also incessantly blowing his nose and sniffling. That sniffer was just dripping and there was no stopping it. It was a bit of a later flight, and he and his family took turns napping. When it was his turn, I happened to glance over at him...

He was laying with his head on his wife's shoulder / headrest.... and he had a kleenex wadded up and hanging out of each nostril!

Oh my goodness... I nearly died laughing!

Admittedly, I've done that myself before... but it was in the dark of my own bedroom and in the comfort of my own home. On an airplane.... in public!?!?!?

Bwahahahahahahahaha!

Oh my.... once again I was left wishing that my phone had a camera.

I "met" Tiffany through the Bloom Book Club. I've really enjoy reading her blog - she has the sweetest spirit. Hop on over to "A Moment Cherished" and meet Tiffany as well as join in this blog hop!

In Tiffany's words, "The concept is simple - share with us an everyday moment that you were able to cherish from the week before. It can be as simple as a photograph that you captured or as elaborate as a lengthy post - the option is yours."

It's a delight to slow down and recall the everyday moments that make life so special... yet I certainly don't do it often enough.

- Last Saturday Jon let me sleep in and he and the kids hung out in the living room. I love those mornings where the kids are content to read and play; there's no thought of turning on a video. As I woke up, I could hear their conversations, and I realized that they were browsing through the scrapbooks I have been making for them. I think their favorite is their respective albums from their first year of life. I heard a lot of "tell me about" and "who is that" -- makes me want to get caught up on the scrapping!

- I had to travel this week for work, so missed out on a lot of the every day. When I got home, I had Good Friday off, so took advantage of the time to catch up with the kids. We got lots of snuggle time in reading books, hugging, sitting in my lap. These are the golden moments that I know won't last long enough.

- Also on Friday afternoon, I decided that I was as tired as the kids were, so I laid down for a nap as well. But the beauty of this nap was that we all snuggled into the big bed together and took a 2 hour nap. Nothing like falling asleep with both kidlets snuggling close.

- Sunday afternoon, I was outside digging dirt out of our driveway (the silt washes down the hill with rain / snow, and it all lands in our driveway - I hauled 3 wheelbarrow loads full to the ditch). When Amara woke up, she came right outside and stole my broom -- she was determined to help me with whatever chore I had to do. I love the helpful spirit of my kids.

- Sunday evening as we were hanging out in the basement after the kids had gone to bed, we heard the pitter patter of little feet. Jon said to me, "I know it's annoying now, but I'm sure going to miss that sound when it's gone." I assured him it's only annoying when they're supposed to be sleeping.

The moments are gone too soon! So count these: Moments Cherished.

Now go link up to yours: A Moment Cherished / Momentous Mondays

This morning on my way into work, I was listening to Christian radio, per usual. The DJ read this article in between songs - reflecting on Easter. I thought it was SO powerful.

You can read it in its entirety here (I pulled an excerpt):
The Comma
written by Jonathan Acuff

I’m talking about the “comma of grace.”

I found it in Luke 22. In that chapter, Jesus is being led away. He is headed to the cross. A million prophecies are coming true and chaos is breaking out a little amongst disciples that up to this point have sworn to serve until death. In the midst of that, he pulls Simon aside because he knows that Simon will soon betray him.

He says to Simon in Luke 22:31-32:

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.”

And then, he drops the 9 words that I can’t write about enough. The 9 words that I often turn to when I’ve failed and messed up again and feel hopelessly undeserving of hope.

Jesus tells Simon:

“And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Do you see what Jesus is saying in that first half of the sentence, And when you have turned back? He’s saying:

You are going to fail.

You are going to fall.

You are going to lose it.

You are going to make commitments and break them.

You are not going to always be the man you family needs.

You are going to sin.

But, but, but, you will turn back.

You will come back. You will know redemption. You will know return. You will know a God that not only allows the “comeback” but actually celebrates it.

When I read the phrase “And when you have turned back,” I read a loud, wild picture of what grace really looks like.

And then, if you go too fast, you’ll miss the comma. You’ll miss the gap that sits quietly between the next thought. You’ll miss it because like me, you might misread the second half of that sentence.

Here’s what it says:

“And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

But here’s how we write it sometimes:

“And when you have turned back, repent for a long time and stay a long way from me until you are clean enough to return to my presence.”

“And when you have turned back, please stay far away from any ministry opportunities. You are too broken to help other people. How can you minister to others when your own life is so messed up?

“And when you have turned back, here are the 57 things you need to do in order to earn back my good favor.”

But Christ doesn’t do that! He drops a comma like a grenade.

He gives us the gift of the comma and then asks us to strengthen our brothers. Not beat ourselves with emotional whips. Or lay in a hole of shame. Or stay to the shadows of church afraid to be seen.

He wants you. In his arms. By his side. Surrendered and free in his presence.

Not because you deserve it or have earned it or are perfect.

Because of Easter.

That’s it.

We all get the comma of grace.

I am SO grateful for that comma of grace. I'm so grateful for Christ's redemptive love for me. I'm ashamed that I don't always offer that same love to others.

Lord as you've given me your grace, also fill me up with it so that I may offer it to others. Amen

We wore ourselves out today, so I'll have to write more later.

For now, here are some pics of the day.

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed. Thank you Jesus for your incredible sacrifice and promise.