Elephunk....

*can you tell I couldn't think of a title for this Random Thoughts post?

*the kids are growing at a scarily rapid pace. 

*Caleb is doing/discovering new things every. single. day.

*that kid is furniture walking, walking behind his little school bus, feeding himself....

*how can we freeze time??

*I thought the milestones of the first child flew by, the second is at warp speed.

*I'm tired. always.

*I'm one of those blessed people that has a baby that's been sleeping through the night most of his little life.

*I'm still tired.

*Caleb turns one this month....in 10 days... 

*now I'm tired AND I want to cry

*how do we freeze time again??

*Someone told me the other day that they, "liked my style"

*I have style. news to me.

*but I'll tell you what people, ever since she told me this?? I've been stepping up my game. 

*compliments from people you barely know can motivate the crap out of you!

*poor Zach, he compliments me all the time and I'm all, "meh".

*must work on that.

*Walmart clearance section has been this girls BFF these last few days.

*3 Pairs of pants and 2 shirts for  about $30. BOOYA!

*yup, I just wrote booya. in caps no less.

*I bought a chambray shirt, which is pretty much a fancy way of saying a jean shirt. 

*I never thought I'd be that girl into "trends".

*apparently I am

*Zach is on his last day of a 19-days-with-no-day-off stretch

*Urology was supposed to be better hours-wise then other specialties he was looking at, but residency is residency. they don't discriminate with who they lavish crappy hours upon.

*why do I set myself up for failure and try to predict the future?!

*it helps to have friends who are in the same boat and "get it". It brings me strange comfort to know my friend Lisa is also in the middle of a no-days-off stretch with her husband, although she's one up on me. He's on a 20 day stretch. fun.

*leaning on the Lord and friends who get it, now that's how I make it through!

*and, you know, that whole keeping joyful business. ;)

the end.

Joy

So I've been seeing it all over the blog-world/Pinterest that people have a "word" for their year. Like 'purpose' or 'faith'. I thought it was lame until I noticed that I had a "word" and didn't even realize it. So I guess I'm joining the ranks of the lame.

In my (rare) crafty sessions I would use it in embroidery, use it in a random framed art thingy I made or write it on my chalkboard and it hit me (as I was discussing this word phenomenon with my friend Amy ) it was my "word". My word I feel like God has given me. 

* JOY * 

And yes, I'm going to be so bold as to say it's a word that God has given to me. I keep seeing it in verses I'm reading, hearing it in music I'm listening to.... everywhere. I feel like He is beating me over the head with it (in a good way!). Because, well, sometimes you just have to have it thrown in your face in order to finally get it.

Because when you have a husband that works a lot, when you're stuck in a house because you only have one car, when you don't have family around to help with kids, and on and on, "happiness" is fleeting. But joy?? 

Joy can be in you, in your heart, in the midst of all of that. 

And I'm trying people. Really trying (and failing... a lot), but I figure I have all year to get it right ;)

I have 'Choose Joy' written on my chalkboard and when Zach is texting me that he'll be late (again), or Aubrey happened to dump a bowl full of popcorn kernels all over my bedroom floor, or I've been stuck in the house for days on end?! I hear it in my mind or look up and see that dang chalkboard.

Why I wrote choose joy I'm not quite sure, but it is just that isn't it? We can choose to be joyful in the midst of any rough spot, happy or not. And I've been trying to remind myself of that lately.

And like I said, I'm trying. 

I'm a work in progress. 

I'm back, Jack.

(side note, I'm freaking excited for the new Duck Dynasty tonight!!!)
Moving on...

So, we're just not going to mention the fact that my last post was in November ok? Let's all just shake our heads at the absurdity of it and move on.

Excellent.
Apparently I need to be called out publicly on Facebook to get my act in gear enough to post. Now all three of you who read this know the secret to getting me to post. You're welcome.
Because it has been so stinkin' long since I posted I figure that I'd start back with a bunch of pictures of the kids. Always a nice segue if you ask me. Segue to what, I'm not sure. I keep thinking I'm going to get back into blogging properly, but I'm lazy. Yup. Too lazy, well maybe I'm tired. I'm going with tired, too tired to blog. ...that just sounds like another word for lazy. Forget it.
And on that note, I now will commence the schamozzle of unedited pictures that happen to be on my desktop. Man I put a lot of thought and effort into this. 

All these pictures tell me a few things:
1. Caleb is trouble. Cute, squishable, happy as I've ever seen any kid, trouble.
2. My kids love each other. A lot.
3. We have fabulous friends here in Georgia
4. Aubrey LOVED her first time skating
5. She is SO the daughter of a doctor
6. Aubrey is freakishly good at drawing kidneys

the end