How do you cope?

The past couple of weeks have been crazy, exciting, stressful, peaceful, draining, and exhilarating. As you can see, there is no one word that describes how we are doing. Our future is uncertain, and we are at peace with that. We have committed this decision to God, and know that he's going ahead of us. He will meet all of our NEEDS. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that we don't have to prepare, make some plans, and be responsible for our family. Along with these things comes many days of thinking, coping, praying, asking, listening, waiting, longing. Do you see how my brain could be a little jumbled? I have learned a couple new things in the last couple of weeks.

Number 1, God has brought me farther in my journey then I thought I had come (this is a good thing!).

Number 2, my kids are amazing at coping. They have yet to respond to our move the way you would expect.

Number 3, I can cope, because I can organize. And I LOVE it! I do my best thinking while I'm throwing stuff out, making donation piles, and packing boxes. I have clarity. I have peace. I gain confidence. AND I get things ready, clean, organized - BONUS! I've cleaned out and packed every closet in the house. I've cleaned out the basement and all the kids rooms. Every kitchen and bathroom cabinet and drawer is cleaned and ready to sweep into a box. It feels good to be ready. Something has to be ready, when plans are so uncertain. I've been steam cleaning the carpets, my favorite chore. Today I rearranged the living room after cleaning out under the couch (DISGUSTING!). Who doesn't like rearranging furniture? My sister and I would do this on a regular basis growing up. It hasn't stopped since getting married. Josh either comes home to a new arrangement of furniture, or he's the one moving it (b/c I'm always prego!). He doesn't understand the need for change, but loves me enough to let me be me. Thanks babe!

So, I don't say this all to toot my own horn, but merely to give an example of a coping tendency. I'm wondering, how do you cope? When do you do your best thinking? When are you most focused? Do you. . .

get violent?

eat?

clean?

sleep?

exercise?

Or do you cope some other way? Let us know!

Sibling Happiness Day

Today must be the day for all siblings to get along. My sis-in-law blogged earlier that her boys were playing and including one another without fighting. My children are also having a wonderful day of play and interaction. Olivia and Garrett were playing together on the kid computer while Esther and Gideon played on the basement stairs. (I know you think I'm crazy for letting them play on the stairs, but really they were just going up and down.) Although these times seems so few and far between, they are worth the wait. They are worth the constant peacemaking and conversations of including and treating each other the way they'd want to be treated. It confirms to me that being a teachable, yet teaching parent is going to pay off!

Gid and Es on the stairs.

Olivia and Garrett on the computer. And I forgot to mention that she had her arm around him the whole time. Can you feel the love?

My Man with Many Faces

This is my favorite age. I'm thankful for this age. It makes the terrible two's, three's and four's so worth it. I don't care what 12-18 month old you know, they are great. They are sponges. They are curious. They aren't testing their boundaries yet. They're good eaters, sleepers (well, all mine were), shoppers, and riders. I love this age! Gideon is almost 14 months old and sometimes I wish I could freeze him at this age. Here's some of his awesomeness (I don't care if that's not a word!).

Favorite toy, kitchen broom. Right now I trip on the thing at least 10 times a day. Hey, at least my floors are clean. :)

Face #1 - Fake cry. "I really want some attention and I want everyone to think I'm not happy! But don't tell them, I really am!"

"I love my mom, but I'm tired of pictures."

"Is that the crazy kid next to me? HELP!"

Face #2 (my favorite) - This face says, "I've just been told no, and I'm sad about it." He doesn't get angry, he doesn't throw a fit, he doesn't even try to do the action again. I really believe that he's sorry. My little contrite boy.

Face #3 - "Wait, every one's laughing, I need to join in! Here's my best fake laugh!"

"Seriously, another picture. . .squished between two people?!?! Will this never end??"

Do you see who I see?

Can you put the right eyes on the right Crisp??

A.

B.
C.
D.
E.
F.

Esther's art

Esther is quite the little photographer. She loves taking pictures with our camera, so when her birthday rolled around and she got some money to spend I took her right to the kids friendly digital cameras at Target. I showed her the purple Dora camera first and it was love at first sight. I took her over to the other cameras and showed her the Orange V-Tech and the Blue Fisher Price. To which she crinkled her nose and said, "That boys cama!" Dora it is!

"Self portrait"

Olivia and Garrett planned a concert for us one night and Es had fun photographing the action. The quality is that great, but she has so much fun with it.

Garrett shakin' it.

"Mommy, say cheese!"

"Daddy's Little Girl"

Gideon sings

Whenever the kids (or Josh) get World Tour out Gideon goes straight for the mic. Of course he puts as much of it in his mouth when he sings which makes it all the more hilarious. You kinda have to wait for it in the video, he must be camera shy. Enjoy!

What to do...

I've been thinking about our sense of entitlement. This isn't just about fairness. This is about my rights. I have the right to think what I want. I have the right to act a certain way, because it's who I am. I have a right to spend my money the way I want. I have a right to be happy in my job. I have a right to have respect from other human beings, and when I do not get that respect I have a right to let it be known. To kick and scream about my rights. To talk badly about those people.

We take this a step further when we give our children rights they haven't even asked for. My child has a right to be involved in every activity. My teenager has a right to go out and not spend time with the family, just because they can. To not be involved in the family unit, because that wouldn't be fair to make them plug in.

Our country has done nothing but feed into our sense of entitlement. We have a right to go into other people's countries and tell them how to run it. We have a right to bail out, to go further into debt, just so we can have more. So we can be America, the powerhouse. We have the right to defend ourselves. To protect. To preserve. Land of the free. . .

However, I find that Jesus' teachings are opposite all of that. What does he tell the rich young ruler, who had obeyed all of the "commands since he was a boy"? That he lacked one thing. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, and follow me." The young man left defeated. The text says that he had great wealth, most of which I'm sure he worked hard for and was entitled to. It was his right to have his wealth and to keep it. To give his 10% to the church and keep the rest.

In another passage, Jesus makes a point to his disciples after watching the widow give her offering to the church. She gave what she couldn't afford, all she had. She didn't claim her right to eat, to have wood for a fire, for a place to lay her head. She gave all she had.

There are many more examples of people not claiming their rights, like Mary Magdalene anointing Jesus with perfume that was worth a years wages. How many of us would give our years wages to honor our King?

We have fallen way short of the mark that Jesus left for us. If not for His grace we would be dead. I think if I were in the crowd that day Jesus was arrested, I would have screamed for him to defend himself, to fight back. To claim his place as the Son of God. I would want that for Him. That was his right. If he had done those things, I would be dead. Because he claimed no rights, I am free. What am I doing with that freedom. Have I gone so far in claiming my rights, that I've missed the opportunity to show the same love Jesus showed for me that day? I think I have. . .now what am I going to do about it?

Christmas in Indiana

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Birthday Esther!

This time of year gets crazy, no matter how hard we try to simplify it. Between Nov. 22nd and Dec. 27th we've got three birthdays and Christmas! Today we celebrate Esther's 3rd birthday. She is such a joy and a light in our house. She keeps up with Olivia and Garrett really well and tries to be a little mother to everyone. She loves taking care of the dogs, vacuuming her room, and doing everything herself. This girl doesn't just do it herself, she does it patiently, which I think is pretty awesome. She insists on wearing "spin 'round" dresses everyday and has been asking for a princess cake for two weeks. As girlie as she's become, this girl has no fear. She learned to ride a two wheel bike at the end of the summer. She will climb anything, jump off anything and jump right in to the wrestling match with daddy and the older two. She hates riding in the cart at the grocery store, this independent girl want to walk. The other day she was able to walk at the store and was so happy about it that she sang "Jingle Bells" up and down the isles.Here's an example of Esther's independence. She was getting herself ready for bed (which she does better than her older brother) and came over to me to help her get her zipper up. I thought this was strange because she always does the zipper herself. Upon closer observation, I noticed that her pj's were on sideways. One foot and arm were right, but the other's were wrong. It was a funny sight!

She loves taking baths with Gideon. Now that the others are older, they take showers and Es and Gid get the tub to themselves.

Always ready for a picture. What a beautiful girl.

We love you Esther "Bean". Happy Birthday.

Merry Christmas

The presents have been opened. Our Christmas morning was small and perfect. When you cut back on the amount of things under the tree, you want the gift to really create a reaction of happiness. I think we succeeded. The kids had our humble pile of gifts opened in less than 30 minutes, including their stocking stuffers. We sat back and enjoyed our cup(s) of coffee while the kids played their new games. I pray you all peace and contentment this year. The Messiah lives, Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Yesterday it warmed up a bit and I went outside with the kids. I don't have any snow gear, so Josh's would have to do. Whatever! It kept me dry and warm!

Dad and Mom Christmas morning.

The kiddo's finishing up the gift opening.

The fam last night at the Christmas Eve service.

Michigan snow and Olivia turns 6

Seriously, I can't say enough about the crazy winter we are having here in Michigan. Last Friday Olivia started Christmas break early because they called off school, which her district NEVER does. Saturday we took our own dare and stayed in, enjoyed playing games, baking, reading and playing the Wii. Sunday we were once again snowed in, church was cancelled, and the boredom started to set in. Looking at the same faces for two days straight can drive you a little nuts! We watched the snow fall all day, and all night. Once again today, the white stuff fell. There doesn't seem to be an end in sight. The only day they aren't calling for a snow storm this week is on Christmas day. It would be a great present to get NO snow that day! We got out today to do banking and to get groceries. The snow was light enough that it wasn't too bad. I know for all the "Michiganders" around here I sound crazy, but this is a big deal to this east coast girl.

The icicles off the church are beautiful. I guess the snow is too!

Where do you think this bundled up guy is going? To shovel? Take the kids sledding? Nope! To work. Our road still hasn't been plowed, and this morning hadn't been driven on enough to have a path, so Josh had to walk to work. He walks most of the time, but when the weather is bad he likes to take the van. What a trooper!

Olivia turned 6 on the 17th. These are the ice cream cupcakes that I made for Olivia's birthday to take to school.

Here's the six year old showing off her creation. She liked helping put the sprinkles on.

I'm dreaming of a simple Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Crisps!

This year I'm doing it all simple and not sending Christmas cards. I'm not the type of person who can send only cards, I'd have to spend the money and do a picture card, and that's just not going to happen. Instead, all my amazing blog followers have received a lovely collage that took me no time at all to make. This Christmas I encourage you to take it easy. Don't do everything you think you HAVE to do, you DON'T! Don't let the unrealistic expectations you (or others) have put on you ruin what is the most wonderful time of the year. I dare you to stay home this Saturday and watch the lights on your tree. Read a couple good Christmas stories, starting with the one in Luke. Dance around the living room with your kids and maybe even take in a slow dance with your hubby :). Bake cookies with your kids, with no expectation on how they might turn out (you know, don't be a control freak). Sing 'til your throat hurts, laugh 'til you gut hurts, smile 'til you face hurts and hug 'til your arms hurt. I DARE YOU!

Lots of snow

I mentioned in the last post that the weather has been crazy. I have some more proof in this post and have added some pictures of the girls posing in front of our Christmas tree. I never thought we'd get one this year, because of the weather. I pulled Josh out of the office on Monday afternoon to beat the freezing rain that came later in the evening and the snow that started falling tonight. The first picture is just because he's so darn cute!

SEE!?!?!?

She thinks she's Hannah Montana. I think she better!

She's a little princess.

This is how Gideon watches the kids play in the snow. It keeps him pretty happy.

I think the kids do more eating of snow and icicles when they're outside than playing!

Like everything else, Garrett goes all out while playing in the snow.

Following the leader.

What it's about

It's beginning to to look a lot like Christmas around here! We got back into town late Monday night after driving 13 hours. The weather greeted us as soon as we hit Michigan and hasn't let up. It has been snowing for almost 3 days straight and is bitter cold. Olivia still goes out for recess everyday. And the kids have been outside playing in the snow most days too. Because of all the snow, it doesn't look like Josh will get the lights up on the outside of the house. It's just too icy on the roof and way to cold to be out there that long. The snow has also caused a delay in the purchase of our Christmas tree. We are hoping to get out of the house tomorrow and pick one out.

Of course the snow puts me right in the "mood" for Christmas, but the season of Advent has brought the expectancy of the season to a new high for me. As a family, we are reading scripture at dinner to really emphasis to the kids why we celebrate Jesus' birth and explain the sacrifice that He made for us. It's nice to see the kids retaining information and understanding Christmas for the true reason for celebration. All the information may be used against us, especially by our oldest. Here's Olivia's story:

I know, scary picture, but hang with me. Since we've been back from vacation, she's been exhausted. She told me every morning that she didn't want to go to school because she's so tired. These comments result in me telling her that in the afternoon she'll need to take a nap. At 2 o'clock every day, I've told her, "Olivia, you need to take a nap today. Remember how tired you've been?" To which she whines, "Yeeeeesssss!" About 30 minutes later, she pops her head out of the room to come out. This infuriates me for two reasons. One, she's tired and NEEDS to sleep. Two, she's disobeying me, and I can't seem to do anything or give her any consequence that makes her take a nap.

Thursday I told her, "If you don't take a nap today, you won't get to watch the next Christmas special that's on and you'll go right to bed." "Ok." She says. I think to myself, "This is going to work, she'll never want to miss TV." One hour later she comes out with her head down waiting for the blow. I say, "I guess you're not watching the next Christmas special." Her response, with as much attitude as you can imagine, "Well, you know what? I don't care about Christmas specials, they're not important. They aren't what Christmas is about. It's about God. All I care about is God, He's important."

I was silent. After I caught my breath from my daughter sticking it to me, I stuck it to her, "Well, if God is most important to you, than you should obey mommy, because that's what God asks kids to do. That's what makes him happy."

I got the last word that time, may be the only time.

A tree, all lit up and covered in snow.

Snow build up on the newspaper boxes (not mail boxes, b/c we have to go to the post office to pick up our mail).

We were testing the lights and Gideon thought they were great. I only had to tell him twice to take them out of his mouth.

Bean in the snow.