Monday, January 25, 2010
How did she get so smart
Madison
Let me tell you a little about Miss Maddie -
- She is a lot sweet and little sassy...and I love that
- She knows what she likes and doesn't like
- She has a huge heart
- She loves to give hugs
- She wants to be a worship Pastor...not a worship leader...a Pastor...and she says that one day she will take Daddy's job (I hope she plans on taking care of us financially then :-)!!)
- She never gives up
- She loves stuffed animals...we have stock in Build-A-Bear (not really...but we should)
- She sings all the time...loudly...and it is beautiful
- She looks a lot like her momma...or at least we hear that all of the time
- She has to have me sing, "You are my Sunshine" to her every night
- She is my sunshine
- She gave us a scare in the delivery room...but ever since then she has always been healthy (and I am SO thankful for that)
- She needs a reminder every now and then to not have an attitude :)
- She loves school and all of her classmates
- She adores the people she loves...and if she doesn't like you...she will have nothing to do with you
- She loves to help
- She likes to do things her own way...and she does them well
- She is very creative
- She loves to sit with her Daddy as he plays piano and writes songs...she has always loved his music
- She loves to sing and dance with her momma (her momma loves that too!)
- She loves her big brother and she loves to get things for him
- She loves to wear fun tights...and her momma loves to see her in them
Maddie is my baby girl. She helped me realize that I had room in my heart for another sweet babe. Some of my favorite memories in my life are the times that I spent feeding her and talking to her in the middle of the night. Her hugs and kisses still make a bad day better and just having her in my life makes my heart complete.
Today (and always) I pray for my Maddie May. I pray that she always keeps her strong will and that she knows how to use it. I pray that she continues to love on people and bring joy to others. I pray that I can be and will be the mom that she needs...and that she knows that I love her...support her...and think she is the most amazing little girl in the world. I pray that her heart and mind will be protected and pure. And I pray that she will always know who she is and never be ashamed for it.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Do over
I have had a lot of "Do-overs" in my life...and I am so very thankful for them. But recently...I have realized that even though I have been given the chance to have a do-over...I keep reminding myself of why I needed the do-over in the first place. I had failed at something...or I made a wrong decision...I wasn't who I wanted to be...I acted wrongly...I said something I shouldn't have...I just plain messed up. I am realizing that I never actually get to use my do-over because I am more focused on what I didn't do right...and less focused on a great opportunity for a new start. I want to be done remembering who I am not...and start realizing who I can be. Have I made mistakes in my life...O my...YES...but I can't let them define me anymore. I want this year to be a year that I start looking at what I can do and stop looking at who I think I am not.
* PS - This fast has been amazing and I am so thankful for what I am learning...but I think I am ready for some fun, light-hearted posts about my cute babes and the funny things they say...only one more week! :-)
Monday, January 18, 2010
One week
Saturday, January 16, 2010
My Momma
My mom and I talk almost everyday (thank the Lord we are on the same cell phone company!!). She calls to talk to the babes at least 4-5 times a week and they love it!! (They are already asking me when we can go back to NY...or when Nana Carol can come visit us) She spoils my whole family...A LOT! She always tells me that she is proud of me and that she thinks I have the best family in the world. She LOVES Dustin and thinks he is just amazing! She is the person I call when I have to cry or just need to hear that "everything will be OK". She is my mom...my friend...my encourager...and my #1 fan.
Today I am praying that she will know how much I love her. That she will stay healthy and continue to take care of herself. That her job won't stress her out (well..at least not too much :)!!). I pray that she will know how much her grand babies adore her and miss her. That God will bring amazing people into her life to love on her, encourage her, and support her. That God will bless her life in every possible way and the she can know just how much she blesses mine!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Tyler
-He is the sweetest boy I have ever met
-He is very forgiving
-He is so smart that it is almost scary. He memorizes things very quickly and knows more about outer space than I will probably ever know
-He wants to be a rocket scientist
-He adores his daddy and he also wants to be a rockstar. (He has already started planning his own band)
-He is a little clumsy and tends to get distracted easily
-He is such a good big brother...even when his little sister is being annoying
-He made me a mommy for the first time...something I was SO fearful of...and something he made SO easy
-He is very compassionate and would give anything he had to someone who needed it
-He loves video games
-He loves to pray
-He loves his momma even when she gets frustrated easily and has bad days (he actually seems to love me the most on those days)
-He loves all animals and would have even more of them if he could
-He always sees the best in people
-He loves to help
-He secretly wants to be a ninja
-He thinks it is very cool that his momma knows karate
-He loves to re-tell a story...and he gives EVERY detail
-He loves to laugh and his laugh is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world
-He loves to wrestle with his dad
-He still lets me give him a hug and kiss in public
-He is a dreamer...just like his mom and dad
-He is my little man...he has changed the way I look at life and myself...and I love him more than I ever though was humanly possible
Today I pray for Ty. I will pray that God protects him and keeps him healthy. I will pray that all of his dreams will come true and that he lives life to the fullest. I will pray that I can be the mom that he needs and that he will always know how much I love him, support him, and believe in him. Today (and always) I will pray that God keeps his little heart pure and that he will always have a relationship with the Lord...not because he has to...but because he wants to. I pray that he keeps his sweet and compassionate heart and that he uses it to reach out to and love on others. I pray that God uses my little man to change the world.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Out of the mouth of babes
He is jealous for me
loves like a hurricane. I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy
When all of the sudden
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me
O how He loves us so
O how He loves us
How He loves us so
O how He loves us so
O how He loves us
How he loves us so
Out of the mouth of my sweet babe came my "answer". I may not be able to "fix" what I prayed for yesterday...but I can still pray. He loves us...He loves me...He loves you.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post...
Yesterday, I stopped at Meijer on my way home from work. I was heading into the store to get some mangoes, blueberries, pomegranates, and kiwis, so that I could make a fruit salad to have on hand during the fast. As I was walking into the store I was giving myself a pep talk about not looking at the bakery, deli, or bread section. It was then that I realized...I am walking into a huge grocery store...to get all the yummy fruits I want...then I am going to go and pay for them...drive home in my car...and make a wonderful fruit salad in the comfort of my own home... Wow...I am so blessed! I was almost complaining at the thought of having to eat fruit...fresh fruit...that I love! That was sad to me.
I want to have a heart of thankfulness...TRUE thankfulness. I want to see all of the blessings that surround me each day. I want to focus on those things...not the silly things that I can so easily get frustrated about.
So...my prayer for today has been and will be to have a heart that oozes with thankfulness. I want to be thankful for the fast our church is doing...thankful for what God is and will teach me through it...thankful for my fruits and veggies...thankful for my sweet babes and the joy they bring into my life daily...thankful for my amazing husband...thankful for my cute house...thankful for good health...thankful to be making hot chocolate for Maddie and her sweet little friend who are playing dress-up...thankful for my amazing friends (one of whom is coming over tonight to watch American Idol with me)...Thankful for grace...thankful for my restored relationship with my momma...thankful for my church family...thankful for my cuddly dogs...thankful for my clothes...definitely thankful for fun shoes :-)...thankful for the chance to be used in spite of myself...thankful for prayer...thankful for 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 50th chances...just plain thankful for everything.
Monday, January 11, 2010
21 days...
SO...my prayer for today is for my hottie potattie husband (yes..I just said 'hottie potattie')
Even though he would not agree...he has a little bit of a love for Dt. Mountain Dew.
And when I say "a little bit of love"...I really mean that he is totally addicted!! :-) I am sure that the next few days will be hard and have a few caffeine head aches involved as he adjusts to only drinking water.
If you know my husband...you know that he is the most amazing worship leader ever!! He writes the most beautiful worship songs and he has a heart for worship like no one I have ever met. He also has a huge heart for people. There have been many times that I have listened to him give advice to a friend that is hurting, or watch him comfort a family when they are going through a difficult time and I have learned so much about what truly ministering to someone looks like. I can honestly say that in almost 9 years of marriage...I love him more now than I ever thought was possible...and I know that somehow I will love him even more tomorrow. He is an amazing husband and he is also my best friend. I love that we laugh together...about the most ridiculous and stupid things. I also love knowing that he will always support me and he wants all of my dreams to come true. And...don't even get me started on how wonderful of a Dad he is!! He is the ultimate "Fun Dad". If there is snow to play in...he is playing in it with the babes, if there is a pool to splash in...he is throwing the babes in it, and if there is ice cream to be eaten...he has made sure to already buy ALL the toppings we could possibly need to have the ultimate ice cream sundae night! He is also Ty's wrestling and Wii game partner...and he is Maddie's tea party guest and dance partner. The babes just adore him...and so do I. He truly is the man of my dreams.
I say all of that...because today...I am going to pray for my husband. I hope that these next 21 days are just an amazing time for him. My prayer is that he can hear God even more clearly than he already does and that he can see even more of the plan that God has for his life. I am going to pray that his dreams and desires will become reality for him.
And (selfishly) I am also going to pray...that he is not in a bad mood for the next few days due to lack of Dt Mountain Dew. :-)
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Snow Day (Also known as "Burke family fun day")
You might notice that this adorable, sweet, and guilty puppy face is not in the snow...she decided to run and not come when Daddy called her. She also decided to make him chase her almost three blocks in the snow. Daddy was not happy...at all!! I think she might be going through a "dog mid-life crisis" But her face is just so cute and squeezable that I couldn't even get mad at her (of course...I also did not have to run after to her and bring her stubborn 80 lb body back home)
Now...back to the snow playing...
This sweet babe just loved playing out in the snow. She just kept laughing and throwing snow on everyone...including herself.
The boys wrestled and Harley kept trying to "save" Ty by jumping on top of Dustin...it was a funny site. Then Dustin suggested that we go sledding...the babes LOVED that idea. So...I put my camera safely in the house and headed out to walk to our neighborhood sledding hill. We were surprised that no one was there yet but we were happy to have the hill all to ourselves. After a few runs...sweet Maddie decided that she was just too cold and needed to go home. Maddie and I started on the walk home while the boys followed (well...they followed at a distance because they kept taking breaks to throw each other in the snow!!) After we got home and warm Dustin told everyone to get ready because he was taking us out for lunch and a "surprise" afterwards. The kids were very excited so they got ready in record time. We ate lunch and then got back into the car and headed to the pet store. Yes...you heard me right...I said pet store. Let me give you a little background...
Tyler had received two hermit crabs from Nana and Papa for his birthday last summer. He LOVED those hermit crabs!! *Fast forward* to before we left for NY 2 weeks ago...eating with Daddy...Ty says, "Hey daddy? Can you make sure to give my hermit crabs a full dish of water and food so they will be set for while we are gone?" "Sure buddy" said a very busy Daddy who was trying to get everything ready for not only his family to go out of town...but himself and the band as well. *Fast forward* to the tragic loss of the hermit crabs. (and I never told Ty that they had not been fed and watered...per Daddy's request and promise to buy him 3 new ones!!)
So...we were at the pet store...and Ty's face just lit up. We walk in to pick out his crabs and somehow it was decided (between Daddy and the babes) that Maddie NEEDS a fish in her room. I agree (it is better than a puppy!!) *Fast forward* even a little more and Maddie's fish turns into a fish and a dwarf water frog to go with the fish. So now we are checking out with 1 fish, 1 dwarf water frog, 1 bag of pink pebbles, 1 round plastic fish/frog bowl, 3 new hermit crabs, and 1 fresh bag of sand.
So I figured you should all meet the newest members of the Burke household...
Meet Shelly...she is the most outgoing of the 3. She loves her new little cage and even climbs up her climbing wall (something Ty's previous hermit crabs wouldn't do and he is very excited that Shelly does!!)
This is crabcake. He is very shy. We have actually only seen him come out of his shell once. He is super tiny and Maddie already refers to him as the "baby".
This is Ariel. Maddie's Beta fish. Her body is red and she has puprple and blue fins. I always thought that Beta fish were mean...but...come to find out...they are only mean with eachother. Which is why it is fine to have Ariel in the round fish bowl with this little one...
This little dwarf frog is Dory and he swims all the time...which is why he got his name. Maddie already sings, "Just keep swimming...swimmimg...swimming..." to him...it is very cute.
So after all of our new additions we had a family movie night complete with juice boxes and timbits...YUM!! It was an absolutely perfect day.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Careful...He's a talker
We were driving in the car tonight on our way to church. We had just gotten off our exit and we were waiting at the light. Ty asked me, "Mom...why is that street named 'W-Yes'? To which I replied it is actually pronounced 'Wise' even thought it is spelled W-Y-S-E." Ty replied, "O...that is a weird name. " Thinking the conversation was over...I did not respond...but he kept going..."Who would name it that?" "I am not sure buddy." I responded. "Well who decides the names for the streets...and why would they spell it funny?" I don't know buddy...that is just the name" I said "But why? I mean why is it called Wyse? Who wanted it to be called that? Maybe they weren't a good speller? How do you get the job of naming streets?" At this point...I was SO done with hearing about street names...so I replied in a very firm/kind of frustrated tone, "Buddy...I DON'T KNOW! I don't know why they named the street that...or who named it...it is just the name of the street...that is just the way it is...OK? He paused for a moment and said, "Oh...well you know what mom?" "What buddy?" (I tried to respond like I was not totally done with the conversation). "If there was a street named Jessica...that would be my favorite street because that is your name...and you are my very favorite person!" My heart just melted...I love my little man!!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Super Powers
Monday, January 4, 2010
NY trip (Reader's Digest version)
Here are a few pics from the visit...